Harry Potter And The Legacy Of Gryffindor
by DescendantOfVoldemort
Summary: [complete] Harrypotterfanfiction.com's STORY OF THE MONTH for september 2003. Very canon sequel to OOTP. action, suspense, angst, betrayal, romance, what are you waiting for? ;)
1. Mr Weasley's Promotion

  


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Chapter 1 – Mr.Weasley's Promotion

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_To live in hearts we leave behind,   
is not to die_

Harry woke up covered in sweat; his heart still beating from the second nightmare in as many nights since his return to Privet drive. He searched for the lamp on his nightstand and turned it on, then rummaged around for his glasses. As the room came into focus he looked around at the clock on the wall. 2am; he had barely slept 3 hours, not much more than the night before. 

The Dursleys had been incredibly nice to him since he had come back. As much as he wanted to believe that they had finally realized what a nice young man he was, he knew they were simply terrified that 'mad-eye' moody would drop by. His aunt even left him plates of leftovers in the oven, since it meant he wouldn't need to have dinner with them, an arrangement both parties were quite content with.

There was a cold fury lurking inside his mind, bubbling, waiting to be triggered into a rage. He needed a way to release it, to vent it out so he could begin grieving. What had Dumbledore said to him? The fact that he could feel pain like this was his greatest strength. _Strength. That's what he would need to defeat Voldemort. Not for justice, not to fulfill the stupid prophecy, but for __revenge. _

The rage bubbled inside him again, he was angry at himself for wasting the last 5 years of his life. Practicing quidditch or trying to impress Cho Chang; it all seemed so unimportant now, so trivial. With new found determination he got the book that Sirius and Lupin had bought him last Christmas out of his trunk. _"Practical defensive magic and its use against the dark arts"_. Every reminder of Sirius only served to motivate him further. By the end of the summer he would be more proficient in all the subjects he needed to be an auror.

He woke up abruptly, had he heard some kind of tapping? He didn't even remember falling asleep; he only remembered studying for over 10 hours and must have dozed off from exhaustion. On his window sill was Pigwidgeon, Ron's owl, with a letter attached around her leg. He quickly untied it from her leg and read it.

_Dear Harry,_

_I hope your stay with the Dursleys hasn't been too awful so far. After the look on your uncle's face I bet he'll be a lot nicer. I sure wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of old Mad Eye. I talked to Dad and he said Dumbledore wants you to stay there at least until mid August, but you can come and stay with us for the end of August! I've been practicing my quidditch moves with Fred, George, and Ginny, and you'll be surprised how much I've improved. I sent Hermione an owl too, we'll have a blast. _

_Cheers,_

_Ron_

_p.s. I wonder who the new DADA teacher is going to be. Can't imagine who would want to take that job._

'Hang on Pig, I'll be right back'. He ran downstairs and found his Uncle in the living room watching the news. For almost 4 days straight he had locked himself in his room, coming out only to shower and eat. Since the 'warning' however, they were very careful not to do anything that would be deemed 'mistreatment'. 

'Uncle Vernon?'

'Oh it's you. Come out of your room have you? You'd better not be doing any _magic_ in this house boy!'

'I'm not uncle Vernon; I'm just studying out of books.'

His uncle gave him a suspicious stare, but decided not to pursue the matter.

'Well what is it then? Out with it.'

'Well my friend Ron asked if I could go and stay with him for the last two weeks of August.'

His Uncle looked at him for a moment with a suspicious stare and then said

'Yes, by all means, get out of our hair. I suppose you want me to drive you somewhere? I don't want these freaky people showing up at our doorstep, is that understood?'

'Yes Uncle. Thank you.' He grinned and ran back upstairs to scribble a quick reply.

_Dear Ron,_

_My uncle says I can come and stay! He even says he'll drive me somewhere if I need to. I can't decide if he's happy to get me out of the house or whether he's afraid your dad will blow up the living room again. Say hello to everyone else for me._

_Harry_

He thanked Pigwidgeon and then set out to work again. It was nice to hear from his friends, but he didn't really feel like talking to anyone. Not yet, not while the wounds were still fresh; it just didn't feel right for him to be enjoying himself. After getting himself a sandwich downstairs he quickly forced himself back to work. His anger had become a very motivating attribute; he had already covered far more of the book in the last two days than he would have spending several weeks at school. Hermione would be proud he thought to himself.

His work was interrupted again a few hours later as another owl arrived, this time he saw that it was Hermione's owl; 

_Dear Harry,_

_I hope you're doing ok. Are you following the news? You know you can always owl me if you need to talk about something. I got an invitation from Ron to go and stay with them during August, but I'm afraid my family and I are going on vacation to __Spain__ so I won't be there. I hope the Dursleys are treating you ok. Write back soon!_

_Hermione_

He thanked the owl and told it he would reply later on using his own owl. It gave him an expression of indifference and flew off. He wondered what she meant by the news; had he missed something? He took his owl out of her cage and gave her some money. 

'Can you get me a subscription to the daily prophet Hedwig?'

The owl hooted its understanding and flew out of the window. He stared out the window after the owl a moment and then sat back at his desk and started studying again.

_The Fog of War Spell_

_This Jinx will surround the caster's area with an obscuring mist. This spell works both outdoors and indoors, though it will disperse more rapidly in the open air. It is very useful for both quick escapes out of sticky situations and as a defense against line-of-sight spells. To cast this spell, please note the up-down flicking movement of your wand and say the word "Caligo". _

"Caligo" he thought to himself. He quickly memorized the spell and its wand movement and moved on. 

_The Spider Web Spell. _

_This Jinx will create a spider web that will trap anyone who runs into it. It is most effective when cast in small openings such as doorways or windows. When a creature or person runs into the web he will become completely entangled by it. To cast this spell you must say the word "Aranea" and perform a 'X" shaped wand movement as shown on the right of this page._

After 6 more hours of intense study he found himself losing concentration. 'Time for a break' he muttered to himself. It was already 11pm, his Aunt and Uncle had probably gone to bed already so it was safe to go downstairs. He doubted very much they would harass him, but he just wanted to avoid them anyways.

He went down to the kitchen late at night to get some food, and was surprised to find his Aunt sitting at the kitchen table. Her eyes were red; it was obvious she had been crying. 'Sorry Aunt Petunia, I didn't mean to disturb you, I just wanted to get some food.'

She looked at Harry a moment and then said 'there are some leftovers in the fridge, you can sit down with me and eat them'. He sat down across from her, and kept his eyes on his plate. 

'Harry … how can that murderer, Voldemort, have returned? I mean, he was killed wasn't he?'

Harry was shocked, he looked up at his aunt and saw that his aunt's eyes were not their usual beady self; instead she looked sad and scared.

'It's hard to explain aunt Petunia' he said cautiously, 'he's not really -'

'Just tell me boy, there's no use pretending there's no magic' 

He looked at his aunt, nodded, and continued.

'Well Voldemort was a very evil wizard, and he sank so deep into dark magic that he became partially immortal. When he was killed it was only his body that was destroyed, he was still alive as some form of spirit. But a year ago he came back; one of his followers helped him restore his body.'

He had expected his aunt to not understand what he had said, but she only looked at him with sadness in her eyes.

'So he's back, and he's killing again?'

'Yes, he's gathering an army as we speak. That's why I've been studying so hard, I want to stop him'

His aunt looked at him and for a moment he thought he saw a smile, but she quickly recovered herself and had a stern look on her face again.

'Don't be silly, you're better off without all this nonsense!' she said as she got up, 'and don't forget to clean up after yourself'. She quickly left the room and went upstairs, leaving Harry to wonder what had just transpired. 

After cleaning up he went back upstairs to his room and saw two owls sitting on his window sill. The first was Hedwig who had the daily prophet with her, the second he didn't recognize and quickly took the letter of its leg. 

_Dear Mr. Potter_

_Please find enclosed the results of your O.W.L tests. Congratulations on your outstanding mark in defense against the dark arts. You were the only one to achieve it._

_I must also remind you that school starts on September 1st. Please find enclosed a list of the textbooks you will need._

_I hope you haven't forgotten my promise Mr. Potter. I intend to help you become an auror if it's the last thing I do.  I will discuss it further with you when you arrive at Hogwarts._

_Professor Mcgonagall_

_Deputy headmistress_

Overall his marks were not too bad. He had achieved an outstanding in DADA. He had also achieved an "exceeds expectations" in transfiguration and charms. Unfortunately he had only achieved an "acceptable" in potions. This meant that Snape wouldn't accept him in his N.E.W.T level potions class, something he needed to become an auror. He decided not to worry about it at the moment and instead took the daily prophet.

DEATH EATER FOUND DEAD

_The ministry of magic announced yesterday that it had found the body of the infamous Durmstrang ex-headmaster Igor Karkaroff. Karkaroff, who was a death eater and sent to Azkaban, was eventually released for betraying some of his former colleagues. He mysteriously disappeared last June after the Triwizard tournament and was reported to be in hiding from you-know-who. …_

He scanned further down the page for anything else of interest

UMBRIDGE TO STAND TRIAL

_Dolores Umbridge, the former deputy minister of magic will stand trial this week on charges ranging from attempted murder to abuse of power. The daily prophet will report any further changes to the case. …_

Harry smiled, finally some good news. He finished the article and then got back to his studies. 

A week later, Harry finished the book that Sirius and Lupin had given him, mostly because he had been reading day and night memorizing the various techniques. He decided to order some more books in advance and started writing a letter

_Dear Flourish and Botts,_

_I was interested in ordering the following books from you. Please charge my Gringotts account for all costs and my owl can bring them to me. _

_Thanks in advance,_

_Harry potter_

_The standard book of spells, grade 6 by Miranda Goshawk_

_N.E.W.T. level transfiguration by Emetic Switch_

_N.E.W.T. level potions and magical drafts by Arsenius Jigger_

'Thanks Hedwig.' His owl gave him an affectionate nip on the hand and flew off with his letter. As Soon as she had flown out the window another owl arrived with the next copy of the daily prophet.

UMBRIDGE FOUND GUILTY

_Dolores Umbridge was found guilty of conspiracy to murder and sentenced to no less than ten years today. The evidence shows that she sent several dementors after the boy-who-lived, and also threatened to use the cruciatus curse on several of her students. No connection has been made with you-know-who, and the ministry has denied all prior knowledge of her actions._

_In other news Arthur Weasley, formerly the head of the misuse of muggle artifacts department was promoted to the vacant position today. Mr.Weasley was quoted as saying that his main goals are to fight he-who-must-not-be-named and to protect and to bring about new laws protecting muggles. 'it's amazing really, some of the stuff they've invented' an excited Mr.Weasley was quoted as saying; 'they even have these containers that store eckeltricity you know, I believe they call them barreties …'_

Harry couldn't believe his eyes; Ron's dad was the deputy minister of magic! Not only was he happy for the Weasley's, who deserved this more than anyone else, but it meant that there was finally someone competent in power at the ministry. He felt an upsurge of hope, and with new found energy he tackled his homework for the summer. 

The next day the books he had ordered arrived. He felt thoroughly guilty for making Hedwig carry such a heavy load, and made sure that she knew how much he appreciated it. He decided to start with the standard book of spells first, and quickly immersed himself in it. 

_The Feather Fall Spell. _

__

_The Feather Fall spell is very useful both when cast on a person or an object. It makes an object or a person fall like a feather so that when they impact the ground they will not be injured. The charm lasts a short amount of time, depending on the caster's magical abilities. To cast this charm observe the wand movement on the right of the page and say the word "Pennaccido" _

'That sounds useful' he muttered to himself, if I ever fall of my broom I can just float to the ground. He said the incantation to himself a few times and memorized the wand movement before moving on.

_The Water Walk Spell. _

_The Water Walk Spell can allow you to cover great distances across water. Instead of swimming through the water, you can simply cast this charm and you will not sink into the water. It can also be used on quicksand, marsh, or deep mud pools. To cast this charm observe the wand movement on the right of the page and say the word "Aquambulo"_

He found that the work kept his mind off other things, and therefore his progress was very rapid. There were no distractions, as his aunt and uncle and even Dudley ignored his existence for the most part, and his thirst to improve didn't seem to be running out. Before he knew it he had finished both the standard spell book and the transfiguration book, and had already covered a third of his potions book. Before he knew it July had passed and August had reached its halfway point, and he was woken up by a loud knocking on the door. 

'Harry Potter! We're leaving in half an hour; I don't want you to be late meeting your freaky friends because you're not coming back here!' his uncle's voice bellowed. He jumped out of bed and smiled, he was finally getting out of privet drive! He grinned and quickly started packing his trunk. 

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	2. Private Lessons

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Chapter 2 – Private Lessons

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He saw Mr.Weasley standing at the end of the train platform, examining the ticket machine with obvious enjoyment. His uncle didn't even say goodbye, he simply took off and left Harry standing there with his trunk. When he got closer Mr.Weasley saw him and held out his hand. 

'Hello Harry' Mr.Weasley smiled at him, 'had a good summer so far?'

'Yeah' Harry grinned back, 'I haven't run into any Dementors yet, so I can't complain.'

'Well let's get going then; I parked the car a short walk from here.'

'Congratulations on your promotion Mr.Weasley, I read about it in the paper.'

'Thanks Harry, though I will miss working with all the muggle things. Did you see that ticket machine? Simply fascinating!'

 'So what's been happening? I've been reading the daily prophet but they don't really say much'

'Well Fudge is definitely cooperating with Dumbledore now. I think part of the reason I got the promotion was because of Dumbledore's influence. The minister is rather afraid of losing his job you see? With Lucius in prison and the Daily Prophet reporting all his mistakes - Wow! What's that?' 

Mr.Weasley put the trunk on the ground and walked over to the coca-cola machine.

'It's a … err … pop machine Mr.Weasley'

'Is it really? Does it run of eckeltricity too? What does it do?' 

His eyes were gleaming with excitement now, like a five year old child on Christmas morning opening the biggest present.

'Well if you put some money in it, it will give you a cold drink'

'Does it really?' He started searching for change in his pocket 'you'd better help me with this Harry'

'Right, well take one of these coins here and put it in the slot there, and then push one of those buttons'

Mr.Weasley took the cold can and Harry showed him how to open it. 

'That's amazing, how do they get the bubbles in this?

'Shouldn't we be going? Mrs.Weasley will be waiting for us'

'Oh, Right, just let me get one more. I've got to show this to Molly!'

Harry suppressed a smile as they walked to the car the ministry had given him; he somehow thought Mrs.Weasley wouldn't be at all impressed.

The drive to number 12 Grimmauld place was uneventful. Harry kept trying to get information about the war out of Mr.Weasley, who in turn kept interrogating Harry about muggle devices. When they arrived only Mrs.Weasley, Lupin, Ron, and Ginny were there to greet him. 

'Hello Harry dear, so nice to see you again' Mrs.Weasley said as she gave him a big hug.

'Hi Harry' Lupin said as they shook hands 

'Now why don't you go and get settled into your room dear? We'll have dinner in an hour. Ginny and Ron can help you carry you trunk.'

Harry went up the stairs and noticed that the house had significantly changed. It had been eight months since he had last stepped foot in here, and since then it had been thoroughly cleaned and brightened up. Black, the previous color of choice, had been replaced with a variety of more lively colors. It almost seemed like a home you'd want to live in now. _Almost. He noticed that there was still a pair of curtains in the main room over what he presumed was the painting of Sirius' mother. _

Ginny and Ron put his trunk in the corner of his room and then looked at him expectantly

'So what do you think?'

'Of what?'

'Of our redecorating you git' Ron grinned

'We've been slaving away the whole summer you know' Ginny added with raised eyebrows

'But why haven't you gone home to the burrow?' 

'Well Dad thinks it's not safe now that you-know-who is openly waging war - '

'- especially now that dad is a more important target' Ginny said

'Yeah dad reckons that he'd kill our family just to send a message' Ron chimed in

'So since we were stuck here, we thought we'd liven the place up a little'

'It looks great' Harry grinned 'so got any gossip for me?'

'Well Mom and Dad aren't really telling us anything about the order'

'Yeah they still think we're too young', Ginny added sullenly 'even after we faced those death eaters alone last June!'

Ron shuddered 'you should have heard the scolding Ginny and I got'

Ginny smiled mischievously 'Yeah mom's been on our case all summer, I almost wanted to come live with you and the Dursley's!

They all laughed at this and it was only then that Harry realized how much he had missed his friends. This house made him miserable but being with his friends made it worthwhile.

'So how was your summer Harry?'

'It was ok, nothing really happened for once. How are Fred and George doing?'

'Oh they're making a ton of money, business is really booming for them'

'Yeah mom was really angry at first, but when she saw how well they were doing she calmed down a bit. I think she's actually accepted it now.'

'And what about Weatherby'

Ginny was trying to stifle a giggle

'Well Percy was demoted right after the ministry realized they'd been wrong about you-know-who, and then when dad was made deputy minister of magic I think he realized what a stupid git he'd been.'

'So they've made up?'

'Yeah I think so, I mean I still haven't seen him this summer, but I definitely think he's on talking terms with mom and dad again.'

'He's still a stupid git though' Ginny added.

'And what happened to Kreacher?'

'After he was kicked out of here, Dumbledore offered him work at Hogwarts. He wouldn't take it of course; we think he's gone to the Malfoy's. I certainly don't miss the foul little bastard'

They talked for another hour before they heard Mrs.Weasley call them downstairs for dinner. She had prepared a nice roast with potatoes, peas, carrots, and Yorkshire pudding. 

'It looks great Molly' Lupin said, as he sat down next to Harry.

'Hey Remus, check out what Harry and I got on the way over here' said Mr.Weasley excitedly; 'it's a can from a muggle machine, coca cola, and if you pull the thing on top you open it, and it has bubbles!'

Harry was about to warn Mr.Weasley that he had been shaking the can too much and should wait before opening it, but it was too late. Mr.Weasley's face had been right on top of the can when he opened it, and was subsequently sprayed with coke. Even Mrs.Weasley had burst out laughing at the sight of her husband's horrified face.

When dinner was almost over Lupin leaned over to Harry and quietly spoke to him.

'Harry, I'd like to talk to you alone after dinner, if you don't mind.

After dinner Harry followed Lupin into a different room and closed the door behind him. 'Well Harry, you look more tired that usual. I suppose it's not surprising; I know it hasn't been an easy summer for you.'

Harry nodded silently. Somehow he knew that Lupin understood how he felt, he too had cared very much for Sirius. 

'I'm not your godfather Harry, but if you ever need to talk about anything, or need anything, I'll be there for you.'

Harry looked Lupin in the eyes, and saw a young man with very tired eyes. If the eyes are the window to the soul, then Lupin must have been very old inside. 

'Did … did Dumbledore tell you about the prophecy?'

'No I'm afraid he's been very tight lipped about it. I think it's better if you don't tell anyone either Harry.'

'Then I do need your help, I need to get better at dueling. I've been studying a lot but I can't practice it because of the underage wizardry law'

'Well I think I can help you there. You see this house has so many charms on it, that the ministry won't be able to detect anything done in here'

'Then I can practice any spell I want in here?'

'Yes, but please don't do it without supervision Harry. I'll try and help you as much as I can. Now that the ministry is on our side, there really isn't as much work for me to do.'

'Thank you Professor – '

'I am no longer you teacher Harry, please call me Remus' he said with a smile

'Ok prof- Remus' 

'Now there's one more thing I wanted to talk to you about. Sirius was the last male heir of the Black family. He left this house to the order, but he left everything else to you, including his Gringott's Vault.'

Harry was speechless. He had never really considered what would happen to Sirius' things. 

'I … I don't want it. You take it!'

'No Harry, he wanted you to have it if anything happened. You should have more than enough to start your own life when you finish school. Now let's go back to the others, we can start your lessons tomorrow morning if you like.'

He woke up early the next morning from his uneasy sleep; his dreams still being haunted by the death of his Godfather. He looked at his watch and saw that it was only 5am. Nobody else would be up for at least another 2 hours, so he decided to get his potions book and study a bit more. By the time everyone else woke up he had already covered another half-chapter. He did a quick calculation, if he wanted to finish the book before the summer was over he would have to spend approximately 2 hours every day studying it. He vowed that he would get up at five in the morning everyday so that he could finish the book. He would _make _Snape accept him in his potions class if that's what it took. 

Breakfast was a hectic affair. Mr.Weasley hurriedly finished his breakfast and then said goodbye to everyone before leaving for work. Mrs.Weasley was going to buy Ginny an owl because she had been made a prefect, and had invited everyone else to come along to Diagon Alley. 

'Mrs.Weasley, would it be ok if I stayed here? I don't really feel like going out'

'Well ok Harry, Remus will be here to stay with you. I suppose it's safer anyways'

'Oh and I forgot to tell you, tonight the order will be meeting here so dinner will be a little later than usual, but we can all have it together.'

Mrs.Weasley left with Ron and Ginny, leaving just Lupin and himself in the large house.

'Well Harry, are you ready for your lesson?' Lupin smiled at him.

'Yeah I'm looking forward to it' he grinned back

'There's a large room upstairs that we can use, follow me'

When they walked into the room he realized it must have been an enormous living room at one point. They cleared all the furniture to the sides of the room, leaving a large open space for them to practice in the middle.

'Ok Harry, how about I teach you how to do other blocking spells first? You already know the Protego spell, which is the most common, but there are others.'

They spent the whole morning practicing various blocking spells. Even Lupin was surprised by Harry's resolve and natural talent. By noon Harry had mastered at least half a dozen new spells, and had actually used them while Lupin sent fairly harmless curses at him.

'I'm very impressed at how fast you're learning Harry; these are all N.E.W.T. level spells. When I taught at Hogwarts it took my seventh years at least a whole one hour class to learn each of these spells, you've learnt them all in half that time and are already a whole lot better.'

'Well Molly will be back soon with Ron and Ginny, why don't we stop here for now? Go wash up and I'll see you for lunch.'

Harry was lying in bed when Ron and Ginny came upstairs. Ginny had received a beautiful white owl, which she called Artemis, and she disappeared into her room after lunch to write letters to all her friends. Ron meanwhile sat next to Harry talking about quidditch and Fred and George's shop.

'Hey Harry, Fred and George are doing really great, they're actually going to hire someone else to work in the shop for them so they can focus on researching more stuff. I was.. err .. thinking of going to work there this summer. They actually offered me and Ginny half a galleon each per hour. I mean, I could really use the cash and it would help them out a lot'

'I think it's a great idea Ron' Harry grinned 'though I don't know if your mom would be so happy about it'

'Actually she said it would be ok, it would just be for the morning anyways. You can come too Harry, you are their financial backer after all' he grinned

'Actually I wouldn't mind some time on my own Ron, I still have a lot of work to do.'

'Sure. Hey maybe if I save enough money I can buy a better broom. Ginny wants to get a better one too; she's really hoping to be a chaser this year …'

They talked for what seems like an hour about quidditch.

'… so then Puddlemere united traded its chaser to Pride of Portree in exchange for their Beater. Everyone knows they got the worse end of that deal. Say Harry …' and Ron sat up suddenly, 'I bet they'll make you quidditch captain this year!'

Harry hadn't even thought about quidditch since last year.

'You think so?'

'Well its obvious isn't it? The only ones left are me and you, and you've been on the team far longer than I have! We'll have to get a whole new team too. Ginny would make a great chaser, and I bet Seamus and Dean would try out as Beaters.'

It was nice listening to Ron talk on about quidditch. He occasionally had to say a 'yeah' or 'dunno' and Ron would happily talk for another ten minutes. 

After an hour Ron said 'hey Harry, why don't we go practice some quidditch outside in the backyard? There's not that much room but I've setup some makeshift posts, and the backyard is also protected by the fidelius charm. I can be the keeper and you and Ginny can practice some shots on me'

'Alright, sure'

It would be nice to get some fresh air and ride his broom. He always felt more alive when he was flying, and his troubles seemed to melt away temporarily. 

Ron had definitely improved a lot, it seems that winning the cup last year had boosted his confidence and it showed in his playing. They spent most of the afternoon flying around, playing scrimmages, or practicing flying. 

'Ginny! Ron! Harry! It's almost time for the meeting!'

They hurried upstairs and cleaned themselves up. When he went downstairs people had already started arriving. 

Mundungus was there, looking his usual self; a pile of rags with ginger hair and peering eyes.

'Sup 'arry.' 

Next to him was Tonks, who had a big smile and waved at him. He noticed her hair color of the day was green this time. Next to her was Kingsley, who nodded at him, and Lupin. 

At that moment Mrs.Weasley came out of the other room.

'The others have arrived, and the meetings about to start everyone.'

Harry watched them all go into the other room, leaving him with Ginny and Ron.

'Honestly, you'd think after what we did last term they'd let us sit in on the meetings'

'Yeah' said Ginny sulkily, 'I can't believe they're still treating us like children'

'Let's play a game of exploding snap, shall we?' Harry said to them. 

An hour later the order came out of the room, and Lupin came to Harry. 

'Professor Dumbledore would like a word with you Harry; he's waiting in the other room'

He went in the room and Dumbledore smiled when he looked up and saw him.

'It's good to see you again Harry, close the door behind you please, I'd like to talk to you in private.'

Harry closed the door and sat in the chair across from Dumbledore.

'Remus was just telling me that you asked him to teach you how to duel better. A commendable idea, in fact I'll try and make sure he has the mornings free so he can teach you'

'– But sir –'

'Let me finish Harry. You remember I told you at the end of last term that it was a mistake of me to try and shelter you from your burden? 

Harry nodded.

'Well I intend to rectify my mistake. I was wondering how you'd feel about private lessons from me this year. If you'll agree then I'd like to personally tutor you in several things this year.'

'I err… I mean … are you serious?' Harry blurted out 'sir?' he added as an afterthought.

Dumbledore chuckled and there was a twinkle in his eye

'I assure you Harry that I am quite serious, though you must understand that you are not to tell anyone else at school about these lessons. I shouldn't really be showing favoritism you know, even if you are my favorite student' 

He winked at Harry again, and then got up from his chair

'Now I really must get going, I'm afraid I have other business to attend to.'

'Right, err, thank you professor'

'Not at all, I look forward to it, see you at school Harry.' And he promptly walked out the door. 

The rest of the summer passed along without too many interruptions. In the morning he would get up and study his potions books for 2 hours, have breakfast and then get private lessons from Lupin. In the afternoon he would play quidditch or talk with Ron and Ginny. By the end of the summer he had learnt almost every conceivable blocking spell. Even Lupin had been amazed at how far he had come. 

'I think you're a better dueler than most fully grown wizards now Harry'

'Thanks'

'Why don't we find out how just how good you are?'

'Pardon me?' 

Lupin had a twinkle in his eye, and his lips were curled into a smile.

'We'll duel using only non lethal spells, how about it?'

'Err sure, I'll do my best'

'That's the spirit, now defend yourself!' and Lupin shouted 'Expelliarmus'

Harry quickly managed to conjure up a blocking shield and then shouted 'impedimenta' but Lupin had already ducked and countered with a jelly legs jinx at Harry.

Harry barely managed to block the jinx and before he could counterattack he had to dodge another disarming spell. With his quidditch reflexes he flung himself sideways and yelled 'petrificus totalus!' Lupin could not dodge in time and conjured up a shield to block it and before he could counterattack Harry quickly threw a stunner right at him. He thought he had gotten Lupin but at the last moment he managed to block the spell and immediately yelled 'stupefy'. Harry wasn't ready and was forced to jump sideways nearly losing his balance. When he looked back a second later he was hit by the tarantallegra spell and his legs started dancing out of his control. He tried to aim another stunning spell but his legs were causing his aim to miss its mark and a second later Lupin yelled 'Expelliarmus!' He flew backwards as his wand flew out of his hand. 

Lupin was grinning at him and said 'finite incantatem' before throwing him his wand back. 'That was great Harry; you nearly got me there with that body bind spell.

Harry stood up, his legs now under his control again. He couldn't believe it; he was dueling with a member of the order and holding his own!

'Well why don't we stop here? The others should be back soon'

'Remus, can … can I ask you about my parents?'

Lupin looked at him thoughtfully, and then nodded 'Of course, what would you like to know?'

'How did my parents fall in love? My mom seemed to dislike my dad in the memory I saw'

Lupin paused for a moment, and he had a sad look of reminiscence on his face

'They were Headboy and Headgirl in their last year, and because of that they were forced to spend a lot of time together. Your dad fell in love with her and she definitely had a calming effect on him, I think he realized that showing off and quidditch skills weren't going to impress her so he actually made some very romantic gestures. After that I think your mom realized your dad wasn't such a conceited jerk after all, and she definitely enjoyed getting into trouble herself. They were probably the most irresponsible Headboy and Headgirl the school has ever seen. They used to sneak out at night and have secret meetings all over the castle. They – '

At that point his voice broke off and he could see Lupin looked more tired than ever, his face a mask of bitterness. He heard the others come home at that moment and got up to go downstairs and meet them.

'Harry, before you go …'

His voice was full of animosity, but there no mistaking his seriousness.

'They were the best friends I ever had, your parents and Sirius. They accepted me as I was, despite my affliction, and we would have done anything for each other. I promise you that I will not rest until I've killed Peter for what he did.'

They went downstairs and helped Mrs.Weasley prepare lunch. Harry decided not to bring up his parents again; it was obvious that Lupin too had been hiding his pain too for all these years.

The last day of the summer Harry went to Diagon alley with the others to get his school supplies and to see Fred and George. They had made Ron promise to drag Harry to their store if he didn't want to be their next test subject, but Harry had been looking forward to seeing their shop.

First they made a stop at Gringott's, and when they stopped at Harry's vault he tried to block the view to its contents. He would have happily given all his gold to the Weasleys if he thought they would have taken it. Afterwards they went to Fred and George's shop, and when they saw him they greeted him with delight

'Harry mate!' Fred yelled as he walked up to the counter 'We were wondering if you'd ever find the time to see your old pals'

'Yeah' George chimed in, 'we thought maybe you'd forgotten where we were you know?'

Harry grinned. 'So how's business?'

'Booming' George replied, 'in fact – '

'- We were thinking of expanding it –'

'- and developing an owl-order catalog'

'Lots of other schools you see, they'll be needing their skiving snackboxes too'

'And their cream canaries'

'So once we save up enough money, we can share our academic aids to all those in need'

'How much do you need?' Harry whispered to them

'We figure about four thousand galleons; it'll take us at least two years to save that kind of money.'

'I am your financial backer aren't I?' Harry grinned, 'So I'll just lend you the money now.'

Fred and George looked at him for a moment with faces of disbelief.

'Blimey Harry, how rich are you?'

'Yeah mate, you got gold coming out of your ears?'

'Besides, we couldn't just take your money again'

'Sure you can, I want you to take it, and you don't even have to pay me back if you don't want to'

'No can do Harry' George replied

'Yeah' Fred said, 'We won't just take your money, however –'

'- we would consider making you a full partner - '

'- meaning you take a cut of all the profits.'

'Our board of directors –'

'- which means us two- ' grinned George

'- agree that you'd make an excellent partner!'

'So it's settled then, you'll supply us the money and in exchange you get one third of all profits.'

Since they wouldn't take no for an answer, Harry agreed to their delight. It made him feel better to know that he was using Sirius' money to spread laughter to other people. People needed something to take their minds of the drudgery of everyday life. 

He fell asleep that night, knowing that tomorrow he would be at Hogwarts, and for the first time in two months he slept soundly.

* * *


	3. A Second Chance

* * *

Chapter 3 – A Second Chance

  


* * *

'Harry! Ron!'

A second later they were almost knocked over as a running Hermione gave them both a hug.

'Oh I'm so glad to be back. How was your summer?'

'Ok I guess' Harry grinned, 'Ron spent the summer working at Fred and George's shop, and I did a lot of reading. How was your trip to Spain?'

'Hot, and I hardly got any work done!'

Ron instinctively rolled his eyes at that comment

'I saw that Ron!'

'Well let's get on the train.' Harry said, 'I'll try and find Neville or someone to sit with, and you two can come and find me when your prefect duties are done'

He found the cabin where Neville and Luna were sitting and joined them. Luna was reading a copy of the Quibbler while Neville was reading his herbology book, but they both looked up as he came in. 

'Hey Neville! Hi Luna!'

Luna looked at him and gave a vague smile; Neville on the other hand seemed thoroughly excited to see him.

'How was your summer Neville?' he asked as he sat down next to him.

'It was great! My grandmother has been really nice to me. I think she was really proud of what I did at the ministry. '

'My father was rather horrified, but at the same time I think he was in awe' Luna said. 

'Hey Harry, do you think we could start up the DA again this year?' Neville said hopingly. 'I learned much more from you than I ever did from Umbridge, Lockhart, and Quirrel combined.

'Well I don't know' Harry grinned; 'depends on how bad our teacher is this year I suppose.'

They talked for what seemed like hours, and he felt comfortable spending time with the two of them. They both knew what it was like to lose someone, and they spared him any pity. Eventually Ron, Ginny, and Hermione joined them and they talked for the rest of the train ride to school. 

He sat down at the table next to Ron and Hermione, and to his chagrin almost the entire great hall was staring at him. He guessed that by now they had heard what happened last term, and some people were staring at him incredulously. Thankfully professor McGonagall came in with the first years behind her, and the sorting hat launched into its song.

_A long time ago_

_Before the school was born_

_There was an evil wizard_

_Of which a prophecy did warn_

_Because all things are equal_

_A great hero did appear _

_     They fought each other long and hard_

_For many countless years_

_     And though one was defeated_

_And the other did prevail_

_It was just the first battle_

_In the war of good and evil_

_     The past is long behind us_

_You may think to yourself_

_But heed my dire warning_

_     For history will repeat itself_

_     Step forward now you first years_

_And I will sort you out_

_For I've never yet been wrong_

_Though some of you may doubt_

_The brave belong in Gryffindor_

_And Ravenclaw the smart_

_Slytherin the cunning ones_

_And Hufflepuff those with heart_

_I've told you and I've warned you_

_As these words I sing_

_     So put me on your head_

_     And let the sorting begin_

As various names were shouted into their houses by the sorting hat, Harry avoided all eye contact with the rest of the students. He hated the fact that they were probably all feeling sympathetic towards him; he didn't need or want their pity and it made him angry. 

When the sorting ceremony was over, Dumbledore stood up and the hall became silent.

'Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Before we begin the feast there are a few things I would like to say to you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.'

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of Harry, Ron, and Hermione for a moment.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.'

At that moment the door to the great hall opened, and a pale thin man dressed in black walked through and sat in the empty teacher's chair.

'And lastly' Dumbledore continued, 'it is my great honor to introduce to you our new defense against the dark arts teacher; Nikolai Vladislav'

There was a pause before a mild applause broke out, but most people were too busy staring at this strange teacher. 

'I think that should be all, so Let the feast begin!'

Everyone was still staring at the new teacher however, who seemed surprisingly unconcerned. 

'Blimey I can't believe it Seamus' Dean mumbled to his friend, 'They really DID give us a vampire'

'Don't be silly' Hermione snapped, 'Dumbledore would never let a vampire in Hogwarts'

But Harry saw that she wasn't her usual confident self, even she was staring at the new teacher with a confused look.

'Well as long as he actually teaches us, I don't care.' Ron said. 'In fact, if he is a vampire then I hope he drinks some blood from Draco, that slimy little git'

They all laughed at this, and Ron spent the rest of dinner telling the story of how Malfoy had tried to ambush Harry at the end of last term. After dinner they were to meet their head of houses to plan their schedule for the last two years. Harry was slightly nervous he walked to McGonagall's classroom. How was she going to take it if he couldn't get his potions NEWT? Could she force Snape into accepting him? He knocked on her door and it promptly swung open by itself. 

'Come in Mr. Potter. Am I correct in assuming you still want to be an auror?

'More than ever, professor'

The resolution in his voice made her pause momentarily; she stared at him and then to his great surprise smiled.

'Very well, so you'll need to sign up for the courses I mentioned to you during your career advice.'

'But professor Snape said he wouldn't let anyone into his class unless they had an outstanding mark'

'Well then, we'll have to go talk to him won't we? Follow me Potter'

He followed her down into the dungeons where Snape was talking to Goyle

'Severus, a word with you please'

Snape looked at them, and his face transformed into an expression of intense dislike when he saw Harry

'Of course, that will be all Goyle.'

When Goyle had left the room, he turned to Mcgonagall and looked at her expectantly

'I'm sure you know why I'm here Severus, I'd like you to make an exception and accept Mr. Potter in your class.

Snape smiled evilly

'I'm afraid Mr. Potter does not have either the predisposition or the motivation to master the art of potion making. I'm afraid there is little hope for him, and he would only disrupt the students who ARE in my class'

'Professor, I need to get a potions NEWT. I promise if you let me in your class, I'll work hard and do my best'.

'And why would I do that Potter? Why should I give you a second chance? I know you haven't changed a bit!'

Before Harry could reply Professor Mcgonagall cut in

'Haven't you ever been given a second chance Severus?'

Snape was speechless for a moment, obviously taken aback by this comment'

'Well yes, I suppose –'

'Then it's settled?'

Snape quickly regained his composure and then menacingly said

'Very well, but if he fails any tests at all, forgets his homework, or does not get an outstanding on his final exam, I will throw him out!'

'That is agreeable, thank you Severus. Follow me Potter.'

Snape was furious, but he didn't care. He was in the class! All he had to worry about now was not screwing up.'

As he followed professor Mcgonagall back to her classroom, she turned to him and said

'There is no further help I can give you Potter, now that you are in the class your fate rests in your own hands. Oh, and the headmaster will be expecting you Tuesday evening. The password this year is "bumbling bee". Stay out of trouble.'

With a sense of relief he ran back to his common room. He said the password to the Gryffindor common room; 'dracos anhelitus'; and ran inside to tell his friends the news.

He saw Hermione sitting by the fire with a book and sat down next to her

'I got into potions!'

'Really? Wow, that's great Harry; we'll be in that class together! Did you know we're the only two Gryffindors in our year? All the others didn't want anything more to do with Snape.'

'Well I wouldn't be in his stupid class either if I didn't need it. He's going to make that class a living hell for me, I just know it' Harry said gloomily.

He went to bed that night with a sense of relief. With all the studying in the summer he had done for potions, he felt sure his only problem would be putting up with Snape's constant provocations. He fell asleep and had a pleasant dream about being accepted into the auror training at the ministry.

Harry and Hermione made sure they were early for their first potions class. They were not going to give Snape any reason to criticize them. They arrived and took seats as far from Snape's desk as possible, as Harry felt that the less intimidated he was, the more success he would have at potions. When the rest of the class came in, Harry saw that they were almost all Slytherins. There were two Hufflepuff girls and one Ravenclaw boy, who came to sit with Harry and Hermione. Slytherin unpopularity was apparently universal, as the students of the other houses looked despairingly at the overwhelming amount of Slytherins.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle walked in and sniggered when they saw Harry. 

'How did you get into this class scarhead? No don't tell me, I bet our muggle-loving headmaster bent the rules for you again.'

'Well we know _you_ got in on your own this time Malfoy' Harry replied, 'after all I understand your father is a little too, err, "busy", at the moment to go around bullying people. How does he like his new home by the way?'

Malfoy's face turned into hatred at the reminder that his father was in prison.

'You're going to pay one day Potter, mark my words.'

'Right, I'm trembling. Oooh look at me shake Hermione!'

Hermione giggled, as did the two Hufflepuff girls and the Ravenclaw boy

'You too, you filthy little mudblood, you'll get what's coming to you' Malfoy snarled

'Sticks and stones Malfoy' Hermione smiled at him

At that moment Snape came in and Malfoy and his thugs reluctantly went to sit at their seats.

Snape stared at them all silently, and then spoke in a low and menacing voice.

'You are in the most advanced potions class offered at Hogwarts. Some of you are here because you have shown talent, and some of you are here because you are in denial.'

At that word, his eyes paused on Harry, who defiantly returned his stare.

'Nevertheless, I will expect every single one of you to work hard and complete your assignments on time. Failure to do so means you are wasting your time and mine, and you will not return to this class.'

He paused again and let his threat sink in before continuing.

'The first potion we will be making this year is the polyjuice potion. Get out your quills and copy down the instructions on the blackboard. By next class you will have memorized how to make this potion and you will begin brewing it. There will be no further talking, begin!'

Harry and Hermione smiled at each other, this wasn't the first time they had made this potion and this gave them a distinct advantage.  

In the Afternoon they had their first care of magical creatures class. Very few people had signed up for it; knowing Hagrid the advanced class would probably mean creatures that were even more dangerous than blast ended skrewts. Ron and Hermione were there of course, as were Neville, Seamus and Dean, and to his surprise, Parvati and Lavender. Half a dozen Hufflepuffs and four Ravenclaws had also signed up. He was glad to see there wasn't a single Slytherin.

''Ello' Hagrid beamed at them 'glad yeh joined my class; I've saved the most interesting creatures for yer last two years. Today I'm gonna to show yer an incredibly dangerous beast; I can hardly believe it meself that we've got one captured. Now follow me, yer gonna love this one!'

They followed Hagrid round a corner and entered a clearing, where they saw it.

'No!' Hermione gasped

'WOW!' Ron and Harry exclaimed.

Nearby one of the Hufflepuff girls nearly fainted and had to be held up by her friends. 

Tied to two trees with thick iron chains going from the collar around its neck, was the most awe inspiring beast they had ever seen. 

'Now who can tell me what it is?' Hagrid said while looking at it as if it was a beautiful flower or a painting by Renoir

'You brought a Manticore on to the school grounds?' Hermione said meekly

'Yeah' Hagrid said, still admiring it, 'ain't she a beauty?'

'But they're one of the most dangerous creatures in the world!' Hermione snapped

'Yeah that is SO cool' Ron exclaimed

'Now now Hermione, they can take care of themselves, no doubt about that'

'_Take care of themselves_?' She said, her mouth hanging open, 'they'll rip you apart if you get too close

'Yeah, and that stinger will kill you instantly.' He said still staring at it like it was a trophy, 'Now I don't want anyone to come within 30 feet of it.' 

It really was rather an interesting creature Harry thought to himself. The face of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion; it had a very noble look to it, and it was clearly unhappy about being chained up.

Hagrid continued telling them about the Manticore, telling them how to escape from it, how most magic wouldn't work against it, the use of its poison in potions. It was altogether a very informative class, even if most of the students were too terrified to pay attention to Hagrid. 

That evening he told Ron and Hermione he was going to the library to do some studying so he could go to Dumbledore's first lesson. He felt both excited and scared as he approached Dumbledore's office. After all, he was going to be taking lessons from the greatest wizard in the world, what if he couldn't manage it? He said the password and went up the staircase.

'Ah Harry, good evening, come in please. I was just making some tea, sit down won't you?'

'Good evening sir'

He looked around and saw many familiar items. The old sorting hat was on top of the shelf and it seemed to be sleeping. He saw the pensieve below it swirling with the grey liquid of the Headmaster's thoughts. Fawkes was sitting on his perch in the corner of the room and looking at him affectionately. 

'Now then, let's talk about our lessons. Occlumency will of course be the first thing I teach you, it is the most vital one at this stage. I would also like to teach you to apparate and disapparate'

'Excuse me, but isn't that illegal sir? Since I'm underage?'

 'Well yes, we'll just have to keep it a secret won't we?' Dumbledore winked at him

'Right' Harry grinned

'And I would also like you to know that if there is anything you wish to know, or learn, then please don't hesitate to ask me.'

Harry thought about the dreading question that had been lurking in his mind all summer.

'Sir, how can I possibly kill Voldemort? Would I have to learn the Avada Kevara curse?'

'There are other ways to defeat a wizard Harry, killing is not necessarily the best way'

'But the prophecy said one of us has to kill the other'

Dumbledore paused, an expression of deep thought on his face. He suddenly looked weary and old, before he looked up again.

'Perhaps you will have to learn the killing curse someday, Harry, but I will not teach it to you or to anyone else. I long ago swore never to teach unforgivable curses to anyone. Now then, why don't we start your lesson? Stand up please and take out your wand.'

Harry stood up and found his wand in his robes; he was becoming very nervous now.

'Occlumency' he went on, 'is one of the hardest forms of magic to learn. It requires intense mental discipline, but it also relies on preparation. It is much easier to defend yourself against legilimency if you know you are about to be attacked. It is much harder to break the spell if someone has already broken into your mind. Now try and clear your mind and think only of the reality you perceive. The key to breaking the attack is to realize that what you are seeing is not real. You must force your mind back to the here and now, and then cast a counter spell. Let's try shall we? On three I shall attack your mind and I suggest you try to cast a shield spell. Ready? Three – two – one – _legilimens_

The office swam before his eyes, and memories of his childhood began to play back before his eyes

_'Wait, this isn't real'_ a voice in the back of his mind said. _'This can't be happening now, it's the past'. _The memory flashing in front of his eyes was of him sitting down to dinner with the Dursleys, but for a moment he thought he saw Dumbledore standing in front of him. '_You are in Dumbledore's office, not privet drive' the voice said, and that instant he had a moment of clarity and instinctively cast a blocking spell. Immediately the office rematerialized in front of his eyes, and Dumbledore was smiling at him._

'Excellent! You seem to be most gifted at controlling your own mind. Let's try that again shall we? This time you must try and break the spell faster. Ready? 3 – 2 – 1 – _legilimens_

Once again the office swam before his eyes but this time the voice in the back of his mind knew what was happening. _'Break the spell! Do it now!' Before he realized what he was doing he heard the words for a blocking spell coming out of his mouth and the office came into focus again._

'Most impressive Harry, you broke the attack almost instantly. We'll keep practicing, and every time you succeed in breaking the spell I will try a little harder too. Voldemort, after all, will not take it so easy on you.

They practiced for what seemed like hours. Every time Dumbledore tried to break into his mind he felt he got a little better at controlling the effects. After what seemed like the hundredth time Dumbledore called the lesson to a halt and offered him another cup of tea.

'You're doing extremely well Harry, even better than I had hoped. One more lesson of breaking the legilimency attack should do it. After that you'll have to learn how to stop someone breaking into your mind in the first place. I think we should stop here for tonight, shall we make it next week same time?'

Harry nodded and turned to leave, but something occurred to him.

'Sir? I... I was wondering if you could tell me about Voldemort. I know he was your student a long time ago.'

Dumbledore stared at him thoughtfully, and he suddenly had a very serious tone.

'Yes, by all means. As I'm sure you've heard me say before, he was probably the most brilliant student to ever pass through Hogwarts. He never played quidditch or made many friends during his time year, choosing instead to spend every minute reading books from the library. 

'Then was he always evil, even when he was young?'

'I cannot attest to that, however I noticed a rapid change during his third and fourth year at the school. He became more anti-social and prone to tempers, my guess is that by that time he had found a way into the restricted section and had begun studying it. Sinking into the dark arts can have a profound change on a person; it amplifies all the negativity you feel. I believe he was badly abused at the orphanage he grew up in, and he was always tormented by the thoughts his father had abandoned him. I started becoming very suspicious, especially when the chamber of secrets was opened. I kept a very close eye on him after Hagrid was expelled, but as far as I know he never did anything illegal again. I assume he knew I was watching him and forced himself to follow the rules. After his graduation, he disappeared for years to study the dark arts, sinking deeper and deeper into them. When he finally returned into the open again, he was unrecognizable as the boy he had once been. Tom riddle was a brilliant boy who felt betrayed by the society he has chosen to revenge himself upon. As he grew older whatever good was in him slowly died. We can talk more next time Harry, I think you should go to bed now. Goodnight.'

'Goodnight Sir'

He walked back to his common room where he found Ron and Hermione talking. They looked at him when he came in, and asked him where he had been.

'I just felt like going for a walk' Harry lied, 'goodnight'

They stared after him as he walked to his bed, but didn't question him any further. He didn't enjoy lying to them, but at the same time he wasn't supposed to tell anyone he was getting private lessons, nor did he want to tell them about the prophecy or why he was pushing himself so hard. He fell asleep quickly into a restless sleep after the grueling occlumency lessons that had tired his mind. 

On Tuesday morning Harry woke up early because he was excited. His first DADA class was this morning and he couldn't wait to find out just how good the teacher was. He had breakfast, and then got out his potions book to brush up on the polyjuice potion. An hour later Hermione woke up and joined him and they went over the potion together until their class began.

They went to their DADA class a few minutes early so they could try and get seats at the back of the class, but apparently everyone else had had the same idea. He sat down and smelled something funny, when he looked around he noticed that Dean had made a necklace of garlic and hung it around his neck. He tried to stifle his laughter as he prodded Ron and told him to look. He noticed the class was packed to the brim. Everyone had wanted to take it; despite the fact that they thought the teacher might drink their blood. At that moment, the pale thin teacher dressed in black walked into the room and stood in front of the whole class.

'Greetings class, my name is Nikolai Vladislav' He said with a heavy Slavic accent.

'I will be your Defense against the Dark arts teacher this year, and hopefully many years after that. I've been informed of the, ah, bad luck that seems to have befallen my predecessors, but I hope I can break that streak.'

'Now – yes what is it miss -?'

'Granger, sir. Excuse me, but are you … are you a vampire?' Hermione meekly said

Nikolai smiled, and walked over to Dean who looked like he was about to wet himself. 

'May I borrow this a moment?'

The whole class was awestruck as the professor took a clove of garlic, put it into his mouth, and began chewing it. 

'Delicious, really, I use extra garlic in all my meals. Now then, let's continue.'

At that moment Ron and Harry burst out laughing, and Dean turned a bright shade of red making his head resemble a tomato.

'Ah Mr. Potter, and you must be Mr. Weasley. You two will make excellent assistants for this first demonstration, please come up here and bring your wands.'

Harry and Ron walked up to the front of the class and drew out their wands

'Today we are going to learn how to defeat a banshee. I have actually defeated a banshee myself, though unfortunately a rather annoying idiot of a wizard put a memory charm on me and took credit for all my work. It took me 3 years and a lot of nasty potions to recover my memory, something I will not soon forget. If I ever run into that man again, I will transfigure him into a pig. But I digress. Yes Mr. Weasley what is it?

'Professor Lockhart had his memory charm backfire sir; he's currently in St.Mungo's recovering his own memory.

'Is he really?' Nikolai said, obviously delighted. 'I'll have to send him a get well card sometime. Now let's continue.'

He spent the rest of the class showing them the spells to scare of the banshee, and asking Ron and Harry to demonstrate. Harry managed the spells effortlessly on his first try, while Ron struggled with some of them. It was altogether a good class. Not as good as Lupin's class, but definitely very informative and useful. 

Their first Transfiguration class was in the morning of the next day. He found this class rather easy too, and even Hermione was giving him inquisitive looks. She was usually miles ahead of everyone else in the class, but this time he was even with her. They both managed their transfigurations in five minutes while everyone else took the whole class. 

They spent the rest of the class helping other students until Mcgonagall finally said 'Class dismissed'

He was about to get up and leave when she walked up to him and said 'Mr. Potter, please stay after class, I would like to talk to you about something. '

She waited until everyone else had left and then said

'I received a letter from Miss Johnson last week; she said that she recommends you for the captaincy of our quidditch team. Since you're the only member left who played for more than one season, I have to agree. I assume you're ready for this responsibility?

'Well … No, I think Ron should be the captain'

'Weasley? Why do you say that?' 

'Well to be honest I've got enough to deal with this year, and even though Ron has only been on the team a year he knows a lot about quidditch. He's also an excellent tactician, and the keeper is in a better position to control the game in my opinion.'

Mcgonagall looked at him for a moment with her eyebrows raised and then said 

'Well if you're sure Mr. Weasley is up to the task, then I agree. Your motivations are certainly valid' 

She afforded him a quick smile, and then continued.

'Very well, I shall inform our new captain; that will be all.

As he got up and turned around she said one last thing to him

'Oh and Mr. Potter, do try and win won't you? We haven't won three years in a row since your father was on the team'

Enjoy it Ron, he thought to himself.

That evening a flabbergasted Ron ran up to the common room to see him.

'Harry! You're not gonna believe this, but McGonagall asked me to be quidditch captain!

'Yeah I know, I told her you should be captain'

'You what – but – how – why – wait a minute, you should be the captain!'

'Look I've got a lot of other things on my mind, and I think you'd make a much better captain anyways. Don't argue with me ok?'

Ron paused for a moment, and then grinned

'Ok I won't, thanks Harry'

'Don't mention it', now let's do our homework.

The first month went by very quickly. Snape was as vindictive as ever, however since Harry had studied his potions book in advance all summer, and he made sure to do a very thorough job on his homework, Snape had little to criticize Harry over. 

Charms and Transfiguration classes were remarkably easy; he had always been fairly good at them but now he was just practicing what he had already learnt in the summer, and he was easily the best student in the class. Only Hermione could match him, and she had read the entire Hogwarts library. 

DADA was always the class he most looked forward to most. Professor Vladislav would often captivate them with personal stories, before launching his class into practical tasks. He seemed to waste no time going over theory, preferring to just throw them into practicing various spells. 

The weekly private lessons from Dumbledore were also going extremely well. He managed to both defend against the legilimency attacks nearly every time and throw them off very quickly when he did fail. Even Dumbledore praised Harry saying he was the quickest learner he had ever taught. 

They had quidditch tryouts during the second week of term and Harry felt that Ron had his work cut out for him. They had the best seeker, and Ron had certainly become an excellent keeper, perhaps as good as Wood had been. Ginny also made an excellent chaser, and she was chosen by Ron to lead their offense. Their other two chasers however, were awful. Out of all the people that showed up, two third year girls called Mandy and Fiona had been chosen. Their skill level was atrocious, but they showed a good work ethic and were ready to listen. With a little work they could be reliable team players. For their two beaters they had chosen Dean and Seamus, who were both delighted to get on the team. They weren't as talented as some of the other players who had shown up, but they were prepared to take a few bludgers to the head for a win. Ron, in the tradition of past quidditch captains, took on the mentality of a drill sergeant and held intense weekly practice sessions. Hopefully by their first game in November they would be able to play cohesively as a team. 

Life quickly settled into a routine for Harry at Hogwarts. As he was walking back from his class on the last day of September little did he realize what was about to happen. He rounded the corner in an empty part of the castle when he saw three figures standing in front of him.

'There's no one to help you this time scarhead, and now you're gonna pay!' Malfoy's voice drawled

* * *


	4. The Ambush

* * *

Chapter 4 – The Ambush

  


* * *

Standing in front of him were Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle; their wands pointed at Harry. 

'Don't you know it's dangerous to be wandering around on your own Potter?' Draco smirked, 'You just never know what's around the next corner.'

Harry's hand instinctively clasped for his wand in his pocket, his lightning reflexes ready to strike if Malfoy made a move.

'I suppose I could have run into something dangerous' Harry replied, 'but luckily I only ran into you three trollbrains.'

He pretended not to be worried, but a voice in the back of his mind couldn't help thinking he was outnumbered three to one. Goyle and Crabbe may have been total idiots, but even they were capable of cursing him if he was distracted.

'Well Potter, tell you what, admit that you're a disgrace to the name of wizardry and that all your friends are mudbloods and blood-traitors, and then maybe, just maybe, we'll let you go with your face intact.'

'Right, let me think about it. Hmmm nope, sorry. I'd threaten to curse your face too Malfoy, but no matter what I do it will be an improvement.'

'You don't seriously think you can take all three of us do you scarhead?' Draco said, and Harry noticed a psychotic glint in his eyes now. 

'I could take you on blindfolded. I took your father on last year Malfoy, he was pathetic too. I say it's due to bad wizarding blood –'

At that moment Draco's face exploded into fury and he yelled _impedimenta_; sending a green streak of light right at Harry.

Harry's instincts took over and he yelled _protego causing the jinx to rebound and fly right back at Goyle, who was forced to jump on the floor to dodge it. _

Before Draco could launch another spell at him Harry yelled _petrificus totalus_ and Goyle, who was still lying on the floor was unable to dodge in time. Just as Goyle's body went rigid, Crabbe sent a stunning spell at him and simultaneously Draco shouted _impedimenta_ again. 

Harry flicked his wand while he said _specularis and a glowing blue mirror-like wall materialized in front him, reflecting both spells right back at their point of origin. Draco with a look of surprise recovered his senses just in time to drop to the ground, sending the spell flying over his head. Crabbe on the other hand had never been quick on the uptake, and was blasted in the face by his own stunning spell causing him to be flung backwards into a state of unconsciousness._

He turned his attention back to Malfoy who was lying on the floor unable to understand what was going on.

'Taking a nap Malfoy? Do you need a little rest before we continue?' Harry asked coolly. All the rage that had been bottled up inside had awoken a killer instinct within him; he felt power, and he was enjoying it. 

Malfoy jumped back to his feet and yelled something Harry had never heard before, and a green streak of light shot right at Harry. He didn't recognize the spell, and had no idea how to defend against it, but somewhere in his mind his inner voice yelled _it's green and his hand moved so fast it was a blur. __Ancilus! The green streak hit the bright shield of light he had conjured and shattered into a dozen smaller beams which had been deflected harmlessly. _

Draco was still shocked, but he instantly begun waving his wand again. This time, Harry beat him to it and yelled _expelliarmus. Draco was knocked backwards as his wand flew out of his hand, and before he even got up Harry yelled __accio wand and deftly caught it in his hand._

'Oh dear, did you lose something?'

'You … You got lucky' Malfoy blurted out, but his eyes were filled with fear now.

'You think so? Let's try again then shall we' and he tossed him back his wand.

Malfoy gaped at him, his face still contorted with fear but now there was surprise too.

'Are you waiting for a written invitation Malfoy? Or are you just scared?'

At these words Malfoy regained his composure, jumped up, and yelled _conflagro_ and a jet of fire flew right at Harry.

Harry easily cast a protective spell and the fire dispersed all around him, all the while continuing to mock his opponent.

'You seem to know an awful lot of dark magic Malfoy, it's a pity you're no good at it'

Draco yelled another spell he didn't recognize and a streak of red light came out of his wand. By this time he was overcome with fear, and it had affected his aim. The spell shot well wide of Harry who immediately said expelliarmus again, and knocked him off his feet. Draco, his wand lying ten feet away, looked at Harry with a fearful expression again.

Harry pointed his wand at Malfoy, his arm trembling slightly while he debated something in his mind. The bastard deserved it, there was no doubt about that, but something inside him made him stop short of hurting Malfoy. 

'Don't worry, I'm not going to curse you Blondie – this time.' 

He spoke with a menacing but calm tone, and his lips were smiling. 

'I'm going to let you walk out of here knowing that I showed you mercy, and you'll have to live with that shame. Next time though, I won't be so forgiving, and now that you've seen what I can do, you'd better watch yourself.' 

With those words he turned around and walked quickly back to his common room. His whole body was shaking with excitement and shock by now. Not only had he been toying with Malfoy, but he had actually enjoyed it. Slowly he calmed down, his heartbeat slowing, and he felt a wave of nausea washing over him. He felt dirty, like he was no better than a deatheater, relishing in the fear of another. 

Halfway to his common room he abruptly changed direction and headed for Dumbledore's office. He needed to talk to someone he thought would understand, and he quickened his pace almost to the point of running.

Harry was almost in tears as he explained what had happened and the Headmaster listened silently. When he was done there was a thoughtful moment of silence before Dumbledore softly spoke.

'I understand all too well Harry; the appeal of power has always been what attracts people to the dark arts. Even those of us who practice magic with the best of intentions are sometimes tempted by the allure of power.'

'So I'm really no better than Voldemort' Harry said bitterly, 'I feel the same things he does.'

'No Harry, you are very different from him. We all share similar experiences in life, what sets us apart is how we deal with those experiences. Voldemort decided he wanted more power after feeling what you just felt, while you were immediately overcome with guilt.'

'But what if I'm tempted again? What if –'

'- I have faith that you will do the right thing when the time comes Harry. We all have the same urges inside, its how we act upon them that defines us. I am confident that in a situation where you are tested, you will choose the right course of action.'

His eyes were staring at his lap and he nodded. Everything Dumbledore said made sense, but he was still having trouble coming to terms with what had happened. 

'Thank you sir' and he got up to leave.

'Please come and see me anytime if there is anything, anything at all, you would like to talk about' Dumbledore replied, and Harry saw that there was an expression of pride and love on his face. 

When he woke up early the next morning the events of the previous day were a distant memory. He woke up feeling refreshed and energized, as if he was a phoenix reborn from the ashes. He had gone to bed early and as a consequence it was only four am when he couldn't sleep anymore. Wondering how he could entertain himself, he realized he had already finished the entire book for DADA, transfiguration, and charms and his homework couldn't be improved upon any further. What he needed was more books, but he wasn't supposed to leave the common room in the middle of the night. The marauders would be proud, he thought to himself with a grin, as he covered himself with the invisibility cloak and snuck out of their dorm. 

The castle was eerily silent as he crept through it, not even teachers were patrolling the corridors at this time. He checked the marauders map in his pocket and saw that the coast was clear. He cautiously made his way to the library and went straight for the restricted section. When Draco had used dark arts against him, he had been lucky to guess the correct blocking spell. If he was going to defend himself against dark wizards, he would need to know what they were doing.

     He reached the restricted section and after lighting his wand he started looking at the titles of books. Many of them were written in languages he didn't understand, and one book he passed seemed to be written in blood. He slowly browsed through the shelves until he found one that caught his interest. _The dark arts and their use in dueling by Sigismund Sighisoara. He opened the book and read the foreword_

_The dark arts are expressly forbidden at all official and legal dueling tournaments, however everyone knows it is the illegal duels where you will need your wits about you. The so called righteous may frown upon the knowledge of this book, but when you defeat them you will have proven how wrong they were. No wizard or witch should consider serious dueling outside tournaments without the knowledge contained in these pages._

Harry felt a sense of excitement; this is exactly the sort of thing he had been looking for! He didn't want to learn how to use the dark arts but he did want to know what was coming his way, and he was sure that Malfoy knew a majority of this book too. He couldn't afford not to study this, he convinced himself, as he snuck back to his room with the book tucked under his arm. 

He missed breakfast that morning, becoming so absorbed in the book that he lost track of time. It wasn't until Hermione came up to his room that he remembered the real world. 

'Harry, what are you doing?'

'Nothing' he said, quickly hiding the book under his pillow. 'I wasn't feeling well so I thought I'd sleep in a bit'

She looked at him suspiciously for a moment, but didn't question him any further. 

'We're going to be late for potions if you don't hurry up, and you _don't_ want to be late for Snape's class. He's been obsessed with making you look bad since you took his class, so let's not give him any more excuses to harass you.'

Harry quickly got his school things and they ran to their potions class. Luckily they arrived before Snape and quickly sat at their seats. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were there, and they were carefully avoiding eye contact with Harry. Malfoy looked thoroughly livid, a look of humiliation on his face. Harry had taught him a lesson he would not soon forget, and he knew that Malfoy would want to hurt him more than ever now. 

At that moment Snape walked into the room and everyone fell silent. 

'Today you will be testing your polyjuice potions, and we will see if any of you have grasped a single thing I've tried to teach you. You will all partner up and take a hair from each other to test out your own potion. Those of you who did not follow my instructions will of course suffer at the hands of your own incompetence.'

Snape smirked and looked around as the Hufflepuff girls trembled. Their polyjuice potion was entirely the wrong color and they would probably have to be sent to see madam Pompfrey, but that didn't stop Snape from enjoying his vindictiveness.

'Now everyone sit with their partners.'

Harry and Hermione looked at each other; it would be weird to be the opposite sex for an hour but they weren't going to partner with a Slytherin.

'I think not' Snape said with an evil grin. 'Let's split up the dream team shall we? Granger you will be with Pansy, and Potter you will partner with Malfoy!'

'WHAT?' all four of them shrieked.

'I don't want to be become her for an hour!' Pansy shrieked

'Yeah like I want to turn into you' Hermione scowled at her

'Professor I don't want to be Potter!'

Harry was simply silent. The look on Snape face showed that he was thoroughly enjoying this.

'You will all do as you are told, or it's detention for all of you! Now take your places!'

Harry carefully took his potion and switched seats with Pansy Parkinson. 

'Great, now I'm going to have a stupid scar on my forehead' Malfoy muttered under his breath'

'And I'm going to leave grease marks on everything I touch' Harry whispered back

'Don't know what you're complaining about, maybe some good-looking girls will finally talk to you now. I'm the one who's going to be a total freak for the next hour.'

'Thankfully it won't affect my brain, or I'd –'

'SILENCE!' Snape snarled, 'drop the hair in the potion now and drink it'

They reluctantly exchanged hairs and dropped them in their potions, causing it to change into a sickly yellow color. All around him students were changing into each other, and examining their own appearances carefully. Neither of the Hufflepuff girls turned into each other, instead their skin grew purple and various parts of them started swelling up. 

'Did I not clearly instruct you to add exactly two pinches of powdered bicorn horn?' Off to the medical ward you go then' he said lazily.

_Here we go_ Harry thought to himself, and drank the potion in one gulp. The familiar burning sensation spread rapidly from his stomach over the rest of his body. His hands began to change before his eyes, and he felt a melting sensation over his whole body. 

And then it stopped. He took of his glasses and looked at Malfoy. It was a shock to see a mirror image of himself standing next to him; it was like looking into a mirror only more real. It was one of the creepiest things he had ever experienced. 

'Aaahh I can't see properly Professor' Malfoy shouted

'Here you twit, put my glasses on' and he thrust his glasses into malfoy's hands.

'This … is … horrible'

'For once we agree on something'. 

He was staring at Snape, who seemed the happiest he had ever seen him. He was watching the horrified reactions around the room with a grim satisfaction. He then stood up and went around inspecting everyone's appearance. When he came to Harry's table he stopped and smirked.

'Well Potter, it seems you were lucky and your potion was successful. It's too bad your appearance isn't permanent, I'd say it's rather an improvement.'

He went to the next table where the Ravenclaw boy had mostly taken on the appearance of his partner, but had some strange rashes on his skin.

'You didn't add enough knotgrass as I instructed you to, but the effects will wear off in an hour. Hopefully the rashes will remind you to _pay attention.'_

Harry turned his attention back to Malfoy, who was examining the scar on his forehead with a look of disgust.

They spent the rest of the class cleaning up the remains of their potions while trading insults.

'Bet you wish you could be me forever don't you Potter?'

'Don't act like such a slimy git Malfoy; it doesn't suit your dashing looks'

When the class finally finished the potion was starting to wear off and Harry snatched his glasses back from Malfoy. Hermione was furious as they walked out together.

'That was really evil of Snape! Ron is going to laugh his head off at us'

'Yeah, I think I'll go take a shower. I still feel all greasy even though I'm no longer him'

They went back to their dorm and Harry scrubbed himself longer than he had ever done with soap.

In the evening he went to Dumbledore's office for his private lesson. Hermione and Ron were becoming very suspicious, and he felt bad about having to lie to them all the time. Dumbledore had been satisfied with his occlumency skill after the last lesson, and today would be his first time learning to apparate. He wondered how he was going to learn if you couldn't apparate on the Hogwarts grounds, but he was sure Dumbledore would have thought of that. 

'Ah Harry, how are you? Sit down please; I'm almost done with this letter'

Harry sat down as Dumbledore finished writing something on parchment, occasionally pausing to think. When he was finally done he folded the parchment and put it in a pocket of his robes.

'Now then, we're going to have to leave the Hogwarts grounds to apparate. I have arranged a room in the ministry of magic and I will create a portkey to take us there. 

He waved his wand at an empty teacup and then said 'ok on the count of three. One – two – three'

Harry felt himself being pulled again, and when the swirling stopped they were in an empty white room. 

'Now then, the incantation used is _appareo, but it takes much more than that to displace yourself. You must imagine yourself being at the place you want to be and then point the wand at yourself and say the spell. Now, why don't you focus on the other side of the room and try?'_

Harry looked across the room and focused intensely on a spot on the ground, and then pointed the wand at himself and clearly articulated _appareo. He felt a strange sensation through his body, a blend of seasickness and rollercoasters, which made him lose focus._

'The sensation will take some getting used, keep trying please'

He focused again on the spot and repeated the incantation. This time when he felt his stomach going into his brain he remained focused on the spot. His body suddenly became very light and the next instant he was one meter closer to the spot. 

'Excellent! You actually moved that time. That was very quick.'

Harry stepped backwards a few steps and then focused on the spot again. This time when he felt the nauseating sensation he forced himself to focus even harder and next thing he knew he heard a loud pop and he was hanging in midair above the spot. Gravity immediately caught up with him and he fell to the ground on his rear. Despite his bruised rear-end and Dumbledore's chuckling he was excited that he managed to displace himself. 

After another hour of practice he could disapparate and apparate anywhere he wanted in the room, and he no longer materialized in mid air. 

'Very good Harry, but the hard part is learning to focus on the point you want to go when you can't see it. That is why apparating long distances is very unreliable.'

Dumbledore took out his wand and with a wave he conjured up a curtain dividing the room.

'Now you cannot see the other side of the room anymore, try and displace yourself through the curtain'

After two more hours of practicing he was exhausted and Dumbledore called the lessons to a halt. He managed to get through the curtain every time, but never ended up in the place he wanted to.

'Now before we go back to Hogwarts I have to give something to the minister. Please follow me; it will only take a moment.

Harry followed Dumbledore through several doors and then up the elevator. They went from level six to level two; the department of magical law enforcement. Lots of people gave them stares as they walked by. Some people greeted Dumbledore and winked at Harry, others just stared at them with a look of awe.

'Ah Minister, I was just looking for you' As Fudge walked out of an office. He took the parchment out of his robes and handed it to Fudge who seemed very embarrassed when he saw Harry. 

'Thank you Dumbledore, this will really help us.' He looked at Harry a moment and then turned slightly pinkish

'Harry, it's err nice to see you… I mean, well, you know about, err, last year'

Dumbledore eyes twinkled; he obviously thought this whole scene was rather amusing.

'No hard feelings Minister, we need to work together to defeat Voldemort.'

Fudge flinched when Harry mentioned the name, and continued looking very awkward.  They were just about to touch the portkey back to Hogwarts when Percy walked into the room. He looked very stressed out and was carrying some papers to give to Fudge when he saw them.

'Headmaster' He gasped, 'and h-h-Harry'

'Hello Percy. You'd better not hang around, I've been known to get violent you know? I'm very unbalanced.'

Percy turned red and tried to stutter an apology.

'Save it, but you owe me one.'

Percy gave him an awkward smile and nodded.

'Look I'm sorry, I've been a bit of an idiot.' he muttered 'I'll try to make it up to you.' 

'Harry nodded. Percy wasn't a bad person, he was just misguided. Maybe this experience had finally knocked some sense into him.

They took the portkey back to Hogwarts and Harry bid the headmaster goodnight before returning to the dorm. He was so tired that he collapsed in his bed from exhaustion.

He woke up the next morning and found Hermione sitting in the great hall writing a letter. He sat down across from her and ate his breakfast, and soon after Ron woke up and joined them. Ron talked about their first quidditch game coming up in November.

'Ravenclaw have a tough defense and a good set of chasers, but Cho has been a lousy seeker lately. I reckon you should grab the snitch as fast as possible so they don't score much. When we play Hufflepuff you should hold off catching it as long as possible, we want to build up the score so we have a big lead over Slytherin. Speaking of Slytherin, they booked the pitch for their practice the entire weekend, so I've moved our training day to Tuesday.

Harry's heart sunk; Tuesday evening he had his lessons with Dumbledore.

'Oh, I'm afraid I can't on Tuesday Ron'

'Why not? It's the only day the pitch was available, we have to train on that day!'

'Look I just can't ok?' he said uncomfortably, 'You'll have to train without me'

'Fine' Ron said coolly, 'it probably doesn't matter anyways. You're the one player who doesn't really need to train.'

There was an awkward silence for a moment, during which Ron noticed Hermione writing a long letter. 

'And what are _you_ doing Hermione?' Ron asked

'I'm writing a letter to Viktor, he's trying to get a job over here you know? But he says the immigration is very strict.'

'You still write to Krum?' Ron said incredulously

'We keep in touch; it's rather interesting to be pen pals with him. He really gives a unique perspective on things'

'So you still like him do you?' Ron said in an annoyed tone, and he seemed to be turning slightly pinkish.

'Oh really Ron, I never really liked him. I just agreed to go to the dance with him because he caught me by surprise. He is a nice person and all, but he's not my type.'

'Oh, ah, I was just wondering you know …' but Ron seemed to be turning even redder 'I have to go, meeting someone' he said promptly and strode off

'What's up with him?' Harry asked

'Oh isn't it obvious? Hermione said, 'I wish he'd just ask me and be done with it. I've tried to encourage him but men are just _so clueless.'_

She rolled her eyes and continued writing the letter.

'What? You mean he likes you?' Harry blurted out 'and … and you like him too?'

'Well we _have_ been spending an awful lot of time together since _you keep sneaking off to wherever it is you go without telling us.'_

Harry felt guilty. He had been going every week to get private lessons from Dumbledore. He had also been reading the book he stole from the restricted section in a place where he thought no one could find him.

'Ah well, err, you see…'

'It's ok Harry; we understand there are things you can't tell us.'

He felt a sense of relief, but then he remember what they had been talking about

'But … but … you two are always bickering'

Hermione frowned at him.

'You know, most people wait until they're married to start bickering like that' he said, trying to contain his laughter as Hermione punched him in the arm.

Later on he went up to the dorm and found Ron sitting there looking completely flustered.

'Hey Ron, something on your mind? He asked.

'No.' He paused for a while and then said 'Actually, Yes. Do you think that, err, friends can, err …' He paused again, trying to find the words.

'Why don't you just ask her on a date Ron?'

'Wha… I can't do that! I mean, what if she says no! I'll die on the spot!'

'And I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave' Harry laughed, 'Honestly, I have a feeling she'll say yes you know, so just go for it. There's a Hogsmeade trip next week; that would be perfect.'

'You really think so?!'

'What are you waiting for you big goof?'

'Right' Ron grinned, 'Well wish me luck'

'Good luck!' Harry shouted after him as Ron ran back to the great Hall.

He read his book for half an hour and then no longer able to contain his curiosity he went to the great hall to get the latest news. When he arrived he saw Hermione was sitting alone studying out of a book.

'So' he said as he sat across from her, 'fill me in, I want all the details.'

She looked up with a smug smile and then said

'Well he asked me if I wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him, and then I said I would love to, and then he said 'great' and left.'

'He left?! What for?'

'He was muttering something about a cold shower, his face was rather red you see, and he was sweating a lot. Not much of smoothtalker, but at least he finally worked up the nerve to ask me.' 

'Well I told him to ask you' Harry grinned, feeling rather pleased with himself.

'I knew you would, that's why I told you. Men are _so predictable' she said with an evil smile. 'Now if you'll excuse me I have to go to class.' And she left leaving a confused Harry wondering what just happened._

* * *


	5. Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw

* * *

Chapter 5 – Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw

* * *

They were sitting in the training room three minutes before the start of the game, and as Harry looked around at them he saw they were all very nervous. This was the sixth year on the team for Harry, and he had gotten used to the pressure, but for everyone else it was their first or second year. 

'Right' Ron said, 'we've been practicing every chance we get for the last two months, and our execution has become flawless.  We know our seeker is going to catch the snitch for us, so if we stick to the game plan we are guaranteed to win! Nobody panic, stay calm, and communicate with each other, and everything will fall into place! Are you ready? He shouted

They all stood up and formed a circle, joined their hands at the center and yelled _Gryffindor!_ before storming out onto the pitch.

_'And here comes the Gryffindor team onto the field now'_ Yelled the announcer. _'Led by their new Captain Ron Weasley, and sporting one of the best seekers Hogwarts has seen in a long time, the Gryffindors will try to win the Quidditch cup for the third time in a row.'_

There was such a loud cheering from the Gryffindor area that it easily drowned out the booing from the Slytherins and Ravenclaws. 

_'And here comes the Ravenclaw team. Ravenclaw are easily the most experienced team of the four right now, being made up entirely of sixth and seventh years, but they have yet to win the cup. They are considered strong contenders this year, and most Ravenclaws feel it's now or never'_

The announcement was followed by a loud cheering from the Ravenclaw area and booing from the Gryffindors. 

_'And here comes Madam Hooch on the field now with the quaffle, bludgers, and golden snitch. '_

The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws stood facing each other, and the two captains shook hands. Harry looked at each of the Ravenclaw players in turn, including Cho Chang who looked very nervous and blushed slightly when she caught his eye. 

_'And Madam Hooch has released the snitch, and there it goes! It's a fast one folks; this might be a long game.'_

'Remember, I want a good clean game! Mount your brooms, and when I blow the whistle the game will begin.'

They all got on their brooms and waited for the whistle. The entire stadium was silent now, and time seemed to slow to a halt.

_'And there they go! Ginny Weasley has gained possession of the quaffle, and she's flying straight up in the air with the Ravenclaw chasers chasing her. It looks like she's going for a scoring attempt, no wait; she's passed the quaffle back to Fiona, who is wide open on the left flank! Fiona scores, ten points to Gryffindor! What a brilliant execution of the Porskoff Ploy!'_

Harry flew high above the field and looked for the golden snitch. He saw Ron was circling the three goalposts and Dean and Seamus were hitting bludgers at every Ravenclaw player who entered their zone. Ron's tactics were working brilliantly; their beaters were disrupting any offensive play the Ravenclaw team was trying to execute. 

_'And here come the Ravenclaw chasers with the quaffle, their seekers flying in the classic arrowhead formation. It looks like they've broken through, no wait, OUCH! That bludger to the head is going to leave a mark! It looks like he's going to be fine but he's dropped the quaffle, and would you look at that! Ginny Weasley has deftly caught the quaffle and is speeding towards the Ravenclaw keeper. She takes a shot, and what a shot it is, but an even better save by the Ravenclaw keeper!'_

Harry was getting agitated; it had been ten minutes already and still no sign of the snitch. He glanced over at Cho and saw that she was watching him instead of looking for the snitch. She's not going for the snitch yet, he realized, she's just going to block me from getting it so they can build up a lead. 

_'Ravenclaw is on the attack again! Using a zigzag attack to confuse the defense, and it's working. The Ravenclaw Chaser has broken through and the only thing between him and a goal is the Gryffindor keeper! He takes a shot, scores! Ravenclaw now leads 50 to 30!'_

He saw that Ron was furious at himself. It was a good shot but not unstoppable, and Ron felt he should have stopped it. WHERE IS THE SNITCH? He looked over at Cho again and they exchanged glances. All of a sudden she accelerated into a dive and was speeding towards the ground. Cursing himself he pushed his firebolt to its limits and tried to catch up with her'

_'Look at how fast Cho Chang is diving! The Ravenclaw seeker has apparently seen the snitch and is hurtling towards the ground at breakneck speeds!'_

He was right behind her but he still couldn't see the snitch. He had to pass her or they would lose the game, and he counted his blessings that he had a firebolt and she only had a cleansweep seven. They were parallel now, still hurtling towards the ground, and he still couldn't see the snitch. Thanks to his firebolt he managed to fly slightly ahead of here and maintained a short lead while he desperately scanned the ground. _Wait a minute he thought to himself, something was wrong here. She hadn't even been looking for the snitch, how could she have spotted before him? Hoping that he was right, he put all his might into pulling up and missed the ground by less than two meters. He looked at her and saw that she too had pulled up at the last second._

_'Did you see that folks? Cho tried to pull the Wronski Feint and she had everyone fooled, but at the last moment the Gryffindor seeker realized what she was trying to do. And now Ravenclaw has possession again, and here come their chasers flying in formation! Score! Ravenclaw now leads 80 to 50!'_

He was mad at himself for letting her fool him into wasting time, and his now frantic mind searched desperately for the snitch again. 

_'Here comes Ginny Weasley with the quaffle again! She passes backwards to Mandy, but the Gryffindor chaser had dropped the quaffle! A Ravenclaw interception, and off they go! What a pass, and what shot! But here comes the Gryffindor keeper with a starfish save! That was the best save of the game so far folks!'_

All of a sudden Harry saw something golden on the opposite end of the field, right in the bottom corner. He glanced over at Cho who he saw was still watching him, and dropped into a dive. He had to lose her first so he plummeted to the ground and heard Cho tailing him. He thought that as he came closer to the ground, she would pull up, but he was wrong. She dived fearlessly right along side him and together they plummeted towards the ground. He was keeping track of the snitch out of the corner of his eye, but he never let on its true position. They were less than 25 meters from the ground now and with all his might he pulled up his firebolt and made an incredibly sharp ninety degree turn at the same time. Cho was clearly confused and tried to match his maneuver, but her inferior broomstick couldn't handle like the firebolt could. With the added momentum of his sharp dive he raced across the pitch to the snitch faster than he had ever gone. His whole broom was vibrating and he focused on the snitch so that he wouldn't fly right past it. Ten meters – 5 meters – 3 meters. He had caught the snitch and they won the game!

He slowed his broom down and looked over at the Gryffindor area. To his great surprise none of them were cheering. He quickly looked over at the other end of the field and what he saw made his heart stop beating. All the teachers were running onto the field towards where the pretty Ravenclaw seeker was lying unconscious in a pool of her own blood. 

* * *


	6. Cho's Fall

* * *

Chapter 6 – Cho's Fall

* * *

Harry felt sick, nauseous from the overwhelming guilt. The Teachers had rushed the unconscious body of Cho to the medical wing and were refusing to let anyone see her or tell anyone how she was doing. He had stopped having feelings for her a long time ago, but the thought that she had suffered serious physical injuries to her head because of him made him want to shrivel up and die.  He had wanted the snitch so badly that he had put her in danger, and now he felt responsible. 

As he lay in his bed staring at the ceiling, his mind kept playing and replaying scenes of the game in his head. He couldn't concentrate on anything; all he could think about was her body lying in that pool of blood. He wanted to runaway, but at the same time he didn't dare leave Gryffindor tower. What on earth would the Ravenclaws think of him now? How would he ever be able to live with it if she suffered a permanent injury? Before he could release his anger by smashing his fists against the brick wall professor McGonagall came in with a sympathetic expression on her face.

'I thought you ought to know that she's going to be just fine. She has a concussion, half a dozen broken bones, and she lost a lot of blood, but madam Pompfrey says she'll make a full recovery. She'll need to stay in the hospital wing for the next week of course, but by tomorrow she should be able to have visitors.'

'Thank you professor' he said gloomily. He was relieved she wasn't permanently disabled, but he had still caused her serious injuries. 

'I hope you're not blaming yourself Harry, we all saw what happened and it certainly wasn't your fault.'

Harry looked up at her and saw a rare smile on her face. She had never called him by his first name before, and that would have seemed important at any time other than this. 

'I tricked her into the dive; she wouldn't have been hurt if I hadn't pushed her so hard.' He said.

'Did you forget how she tried to use a Wronski Feint on you? This is part of the game Mr. Potter, and you need to realize that this happened through no fault of your own. I will see you in class tomorrow. Goodnight.'

He lay in bed for hours, unable to sleep. The anger he had felt last summer was in him again, all the memories floating in his mind, torturing him. Why did everything bad always happen to him? It was dark outside now and he wanted more than anything to leave his dorm again. He grabbed his cloak and map and snuck out of the Gryffindor dormitory. Perhaps a walk on the Hogwarts grounds, some fresh air would, make him feel better; it certainly couldn't make him feel any worse.

Carefully watching the map so he could avoid meeting anyone he walked past the edge of the forbidden forest and next to the lake. He looked up and saw the stars, particularly bright tonight, and tried to make out the constellations. He watched the ripples in the lake, reflecting the light of the moon; reminded him of  his second triwizard tournament task. He was about to get up when he saw something moving ahead of him, and he put the cloak over himself and tried to stifle his breathing. 

As it got closer he saw that it was a man. A very large man. Hagrid! He took of the cloak and walked towards him.

'Hello Hagrid'

'Blimey 'arry! You scared the livin' bejeezus outta me! What are ya doing wandering out at night?'

'I could ask the same to you, but to answer your question; I couldn't sleep.'

Hagrid gave him a sympathetic smile

'Got a lot on yer mind have ya?'

'How did you guess?' Harry said sarcastically.

'No need ter get touchy. Well come on then, let's go have a cup 'o tea' and he put his large hand on Harry's shoulder and dragged him to his cabin.

Harry sipped from his giant tea cup and looked around the cabin; it reminded him of better times during his first year here

'So Harry, anything you wanna talk about?'

'No.'

Hagrid looked at him for a moment with his eyebrows raised and then nodded

'Alrigh', I'll do the talkin' then.'

He told Harry all about Grawp and how he was becoming very good at English. He also talked about Madame Maxime, who he said he was 'gettin' ter knew quite well'.

Talking to Hagrid, or rather having Hagrid talk to him, made him feel better. He listened for several hours to Hagrid talking about various things when all of a sudden Hagrid raised his eyebrows. 

'Merlin's beard! Look at the time, yer best be off now. Go on, and don't yer be sneaking around the forest anymore at night!'

He went back to his room under the cloak and crawled into his bed. Though he was feeling less frustrated now, his mind was still too guilty to fall asleep. He took out the book hidden underneath his pillow and began reading.

'Harry wake up!' Ron shouted as he shook Harry

'Huh? What time is it?'

'It's five minutes before class! Throw your robes on and let's go!'

They ran downstairs and into the transfiguration classroom, where Hermione gave them a patronizing stare.

'Thank God we made it here so fast, McGonagall hates it when we're late' Ron said as they walked to their seats.

'Not fast enough Mr.Weasley' said a stern voice behind them, making Ron gulp

'Sorry professor, I overslept' Harry said miserably.

'Very well, I will overlook it this time. Take your seats.' 

As they walked in everyone was staring at him. Like people who slowed down to look at accidents on the highway, he supposed they couldn't help it. It made him angry, and he wanted to yell out at all of them. 

To make matters worse, Harry was the worst student in the class today. He couldn't focus on the spell he was trying to do, and he quickly grew frustrated and gave up. 

'It's no good' he said angrily to Ron, 'I can't concentrate on anything'

'Yeah mate, I understand' he said sympathetically; 'tell you what, after class we'll get on our brooms and fly around a bit. That'll take your mind off it.'

'No, I don't really feel like flying actually' he said coldly

'Oh, right, err sorry. How about a game of chess then? Or exploding snap?'

'Yeah alright' he said gloomily.

Even though Ron played lousily, probably on purpose Harry suspected, he was still soundly trashed three games in a row. 

'So how are things between you and Hermione? She told me your date was awkward, but you still had a good time.'

Ron turned bright red

'Well it is awkward you know, I mean I've been friends with her for over five years.'

'So have you kissed her yet?' Harry grinned

Ron turned bright red

'Well, no … we've just been spending time together, you know'

'Yeah right, I bet you've been snogging all over the castle' said Harry, still grinning.

'No I haven't' he said, and there was now a tone of annoyance in his voice.'

'Sorry, look my life isn't that great so the least you can do is let me live vicariously through you.'

'We're just taking things slow, that's all.'

Ron looked at Harry, and then quickly looked down.

'Well to be honest, I … I'm waiting for the right time to kiss her. I mean, it's not as easy as it sounds.'

Harry grinned again

'You know Ron, I reckon the sorting hat put you in the wrong house, you're really a Hufflepuff I think.'

The next moment they were both slamming each other with pillows, and when Dean and Seamus came in a few moments later they joined in too. 

He stayed in the tower for lunch that day, since Ron and Hermione were nice enough to bring him some food from the Great Hall. Even though they were going out, the three of them could still act like friends among each other. When Hermione saw how miserable he still was she told him to snap out of it.

'Easy for you to say, you didn't nearly kill someone' he said grumpily.

'Well why don't you just go see her? Honestly, go tell her you're sorry then and see if she blames you. If she does then at least you'll know, and if she doesn't then no one else should either. It does no one any good if you're sitting in the Gryffindor room sulking '

'Alright, alright, I'll go!' he said with an annoyed tone.

He hadn't said a word to Cho since last school year. Occasionally they would pass each other in the corridor and make eye contact, but that always ended with them both looking awkward or embarrassed. He didn't have any romantic feelings for her, he was sure of that, but he didn't resent her either. 

With heavy feet he walked to the other side of the castle, thinking of what he would say to her.

'Sorry about making you fall off your broom and cracking your skull open' he thought to himself sarcastically. If only he had Hermione whispering words in his ear, she always knew what to do or say. 

He reached the hospital wing and paused outside the doorway. 'Ok here goes' he thought to himself, 'just tell her you're sorry and ask if there's anything you can do to make her feel better. That's it. And whatever you do, _don't_ turn bright red.'

He took a deep breath and walked in, and the very first thing he did was turn bright red.

On the bed was Cho who looked shocked when he walked in, and sitting on a chair next to her was her friend Marietta. 

'Err Hi, err …' 

_'Get a grip Harry' _his inner voice said

She was looking at him with a look of surprise, while her friend had a frown on her face. 

'Err sorry I didn't mean to intrude … I wanted to tell you how sorry I was, and I was wondering if I could do anything to make it up to you.'

'Oh thanks, I'm fine really. I … I certainly don't blame you for what happened, so there's no need to be sorry.'

'Oh, right. Well, um, I'll leave you alone then. um. Hope you feel better soon' and he turned around and walked towards the door. His face was so bright red it would have stopped traffic on a street.

'_Real smooth'_ he thought to himself

'Harry wait!'

He turned around and saw her friend looked even more annoyed that before now.

'Could you … could you do me a favor and come back tomorrow? It gets really boring here, with no one to talk to.' 

'Oh um, yeah sure. Well, um, see you tomorrow then.' 

He walked out the door and wanted to kick himself for acting like such an idiot. '_Good job of not turning red_' he thought to himself

'_Yeah it was more like purple this time_' his inner voice said sarcastically

He felt better that evening though; at least he knew that she didn't blame him. His guilty conscience had been abated and he could concentrate on his work again. He pulled the book out from under his pillow and began reading it again. 

_The problem with direct attack spells is that a competent adversary will have no problem blocking them with the appropriate spell. One must either use an unblockable spell, or use a spell that can surround your enemy. _

Yes he thought, he had seen that before. When Dumbledore and Voldemort had dueled, they had used strange spells against each other. Dumbledore had used fire to surround Voldemort and he had also made the water in the fountain into a type of cocoon. Voldemort had attacked Dumbledore with an unblockable spell while at the same time making the snake attack him. He had to learn how to duel more effectively if he was going to stand a chance. With determination he forced himself to stay awake as long as he could and continued reading deep into the night. 

He couldn't remember how long he had stayed up, but he felt exhausted when he awoke the next morning. He forced himself out of bed and went down to the great hall. When he entered he quickly made his way to the Gryffindor table so as to avoid stares. Surprisingly few people seemed to take notice however; even the Ravenclaw table wasn't giving him angry stares. He sat down next to Ron and Hermione and grabbed himself some muffins

'Mornin' 'arry' Ron said to him with a mouth full of bacon.

'Oh Ron that's disgusting' Hermione snapped.

Ron swallowed and then grinned; 'sorry' he mumbled as he cast her a grin.

'So how did it go last night Harry? Did you talk to her?'

'Oh yeah, err, her friend Marietta was there so I just said I was sorry and left.'

Hermione frowned, 'so that's it?'

'We'll I wasn't going to stick around with _her there too, I don't think she approves of me at all.'_

'Yeah don't blame you mate', Ron jumped in; 'I wouldn't want to hang around with that sneak there'

'Oh Ron' Hermione said reprovingly, 'you can't really blame her, she must have been under a lot of pressure if her mom worked at the ministry and was loyal to Fudge'

'My dad works at the ministry! You don't see me ratting other people out!'

'But you dad wasn't exactly pressuring you either. Look I'm not trying to defend her, but she's been punished enough by my jinxing I think'. 

'No arguments there dear' he grinned

'Dear?' Harry laughed, 'please, I'm going to throw up.'

Ron turned red again but Hermione didn't seem to care, she was still looking at Harry.

'Anything else happen Harry?'

'Well….nothing much' He looked at Hermione and then at Ron, and she understood immediately. 

'Ron, could you do me a favor? I need a book from the library but madam Pince kicked me out for eating in there earlier on.'

'Oh yeah, no problem, I can get it for you after my first class'

'Could you get it for me now sweetheart? I _really need it' she said sweetly while fluttering her eyelids, 'I'll be so grateful that I'll …'_

Harry couldn't hear the rest because she whispered it in his ear, after which Ron's eyes opened widely and he mumbled 'On my way' before running off.

When Ron had left she turned back to Harry and after seeing the look on his face she said 'don't ask.'

'Alright I won't' he grinned. He then proceeded to tell her everything that happened last night.

'I'm not sure I want to go back there, you know, it's bloody embarrassing. Every time I'm near her I turn into a bumbling idiot' 

'Well you can't be worse than Ron, and he's found a way to talk like a normal person again.' She paused for a moment as she thought, and then said 'well almost.'

'Well I did tell her I would come, so I can't back out now.'

'It's only awkward in the beginning; once you two get talking it'll be fine.'

At that moment Ron came back with the book and they all left for class.

That night he went to see her immediately after dinner. He felt his feet getting heavier with each step again, but he knew there was no backing out and forced himself on.

As he walked in he saw that she was having dinner, but she looked delighted to see him.

'Harry! Come in, have a seat. I'm so bored!'

'Not disturbing dinner am I?'

'No, No, Don't worry; this stuff' - she said as she made a face at the food '- is horrible'. I'm not supposed to eat regular food because my body is too weak, but I'd give anything for a decent meal.'

Harry felt really guilty again

'Look I'm really sorry about what happened, I feel really awful you know' he said meekly

'Oh no, I didn't mean it like that! It wasn't your fault at all, I should never have tried that spectacular diving turn you made, I'm not nearly as good as you'

'It was just my broom, it was nothing special' he added feeling slight warm now.

'Just your broom? Are you kidding? That was a spectacular move' she grinned. 'You should definitely go professional when you graduate'

'Oh you think so?' he was turning red again, and that made her turn red too.

'Have you thought about what you're going to do when you finish?'

'Well I thought about being a teacher you know, but it's a lot of work.'

'You mean at Hogwarts? That would be cool; I'd love to stay here forever'

'Oh no, I'm not good enough to teach here' she said quickly, 'I thought about teaching little kids; Perhaps a daycare or an elementary school. What about you? Any plans besides being an international quidditch star?

'Well I thought about being an auror, in fact I'm working very hard to become one.'

'That's a great idea too; I wish I was good enough to be one. It's so unfair that the people who do these horrible things might never be caught and punished' she said with resentment in her voice.

Harry nodded; he had used the cruciatus curse on Bellatrix last year. He knew how she felt. 

'I … I read about what you did at the ministry. I wish I could have helped you.'

'It was stupid of me to have gone there, I' - but he couldn't finish his sentence.

They were silent for a few minutes, neither able to look the other in the eye. 

'You would have gone?' he asked

'Of course! After what happened to Cedric –'

She paused for a moment, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

'I know you don't want to talk about it, but … but …' she fell silent again, unable to finish the sentence. Harry had never been able to talk about Sirius's death to anyone, but he felt less awkward recounting Cedric now.

'I can't really tell you anything else about what happened that night; I said everything that happened in the interview I gave.'

He thought for a moment before continuing

'He was a very honorable person, he told me about the second task and he insisted I take the cup before him. If I had listened he would still be alive' he said bitterly.

Harry talked for over an hour. He recounted everything he remembered about Cedric during his fourth year, and she listened, occasionally asking a question.

When it was over they were both silent for a while, and finally Harry spoke.

'I can't bring Cedric back, but I'm going to kill Voldemort for everything's he's done. I promise that.'

She gulped at Voldemort's name, but the look in her eyes was concern.

'Harry … I know he killed your parents, but … it's better to stay out of his way. Leave it to Dumbledore; he's far more powerful than you.'

'I wish I could …' he mumbled

'Why does it all have to fall on your shoulders? Haven't you been through enough?'

He wished he could tell her, but it wasn't safe. Telling people would just put them in danger.

'It's hard to explain ok? There's a reason why all this stuff happens to me; we're tied together by this scar.'

It looked like she was about to start crying again, but at that moment Madam Pompfrey came in.

'Are you still here? Out! She needs her rest now.'

'Right, err well I'd better get going. I hope you get better, I guess I'll see you around.'

'Oh … you're not coming back?'

'Come back? I mean, you want me to?'

'Oh only if you do' she said quickly.

'Well it's just that, err, I don't seem to, err, cheer you up much.'

'Oh! Oh I'm sorry, look if you come back I'll promise not to cry.' 

'Well I'll try anyways' she said with an afterthought.

'What about your, err, boyfriend? Michael Corner isn't it?

At this question Cho turned bright red

'Well I err, broke up with him about two days after he asked me out. I was just – oh dear, I'll … I'll tell you some other time ok?' 

She looked thoroughly embarrassed, 

'Well ok, I'll err come back as soon as I can then.'

'Thanks Harry, for dropping by and talking to me.' She said eagerly

He was walking back to his dorm thinking about everything they had talked about. At least she wasn't mad at him for nearly getting her killed, and the accident had gotten them to talk to each other again. He stopped halfway to the Gryffindor tower, thinking about something, and then changed direction and headed downstairs. He found his way into the kitchens and saw all the elves hard at work.

'Hello, excuse me?'

'HARRY POTTER!' 

A second later Dobby nearly knocked him over as he tried to hug him.

'Dobby wondered when he'd be seeing you again! Dobby is so glad to see you!' 

'It's great to see you too Dobby, do you have time to sit down and have tea with me?'

'Of course sir! Dobby always has time for Harry Potter, such an honor it is.'

Immediately half a dozen elves brought them tea, a table, and two chairs. 

'So how are you Dobby?'

Dobby looked at him with his big watery eyes, and smiled at him.

'Dobby is great Sir, Dobby has been saving his money and he has got a lot now!'

'Oh what are you saving for?'

At this question Dobby leaned closer to Harry and lowered his voice

'Dobby wants to free other elves Sir; he has been saving to start a movement.'

'Oh really? I thought most elves didn't want to be free?

'Dobby admits it is not going to be easy, but Dobby is not going to give up.'

'Well err, good for you Dobby. That's very noble of you'

Dobby beamed at him, and then raised his voice to normal again.

'Dobby heard about what happened at the ministry Harry Potter, Dobby wonders if he can do anything to help?'

'Well actually that's why I came down here, I was wondering if you could do a favor for a friend of mine.'

'Anything Sir!'

'A friend of mine is in hospital you see, and she doesn't like the food.'

Harry now lowered his voice too, even though the other elves were working hard he had the suspicion that they were trying to listen.

'I was wondering if you could sneak her some nice food, without anyone seeing you.'

Dobby giggled at this

'Of course Sir' he whispered, 'Dobby would be happy to sneak some food to Harry Potter's friend. He will personally bring her the best food!'

'Great Dobby, well I should go now, but don't forget to come and see me for Christmas, I have to get you a present for helping me.'

At this Dobby started crying again

'Presents for Dobby again? Harry Potter is the greatest wizard Dobby has ever known!

'Err thanks Dobby, well goodnight'

As he left the kitchens and went to his dorm he felt confused. Did she still care for him? He wasn't sure he was interested. It seemed that all she did was depress him even more and he didn't want to hang around with someone like that. Nevertheless he had promised to come back, and since she was in the hospital wing because of him, he owed it to her.

He slept a lot easier that night than he had in a long while. He tried to stay awake again reading his book as long as he could, but due to the lack of sleep the last few nights he dozed off much earlier than usual. When he woke up the next morning he felt refreshed and energized, and he used his last hour before class to brush up one last time on his potions homework. Thanks to all the work he had been doing in the summer, and the extra effort he was putting in for his potions class, a very annoyed Snape had found little to criticize him about. Care of magical creatures was always an enjoyable lesson. Hagrid never gave them much homework and his lessons were interesting to say the least. He looked around for Hermione after class but she was nowhere to be found. Neither was Ron. Maybe he is a Gryffindor after all, Harry grinned. 

He had dinner with Dean, Seamus, and Ginny, who were all talking about their match against Hufflepuff in February.

'Hey Harry we're going fly around a bit after Dinner, why don't you join us?' Ginny asked him.

'Oh thanks, but I have to be somewhere, sorry.'

'No problem, some other time then' she said, but Ginny kept staring at him as if she was trying to read his mind. 

After dinner he walked slowly to the medical wing. He wondered if he was doing the right thing. If he had no interest in her then it was wrong to keep spending this time with her. But all of a sudden he wasn't so sure anymore …

When he walked in she was grinning at him. 

'Thank you for asking Dobby to bring me some food! That was really nice of you.'

'Don't mention it, I hope he wasn't too weird, he's a bit funny even for a house elf.'

'Oh no he was great! I invited him to sit with me and we talked for almost an hour.'

'Oh? He didn't … say anything about me … did he?'

'You mean like Harry Potter is the greatest wizard in the world, that sort of thing?'

She said while still grinning at him.

'Wonderful, that's just great, and I was really hoping I wouldn't be embarrassed today.'

'He really adores you, you know? He said he wants to work for you someday for free, even though he's getting paid now. He also showed me the socks you gave him about four different times.'

Harry grinned back

'Remind me to buy him ten pairs this Christmas; I owe my life to him.'

They talked for a while about how he had met Dobby, and how Dobby had saved him several times since then. They talked just like friends, the awkwardness seemed to disappear for a while and he was actually enjoying her company. She told him about her parents, they talked about their friends, their courses. When they finished talking about everything they could think of they sat in silence for a moment.

'Harry? Madam Pompfrey is letting me out on Friday, she said I should be fine by then.'

'Oh that's great, take it easy for a while though.'

'There's a hogsmeade trip coming up …I was wondering …'

'Oh'

'Well do you want to do something?' she asked, her hands shaking slightly.

'Well, what about Michael? Are you sure I'm not coming in between the two of you?'

'Oh dear, um look this is really embarrassing, but there's something I have to tell you; I think you have a right to know.'

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

'Ok here goes, I went out with Michael to try and make you jealous. Obviously it didn't work because you didn't seem to care one bit. I also fell off my broom because I was trying to impress you at quidditch. I knew I couldn't really do that turn in the back of my mind, but I wasn't going to look weak in front of you. Ok it's all out on the table now, I feel like I could die of embarrassment. 

'Oh, err wow … I mean, err I don't know what to say, err, I'm really flattered?'

'This is awkward isn't it? Well, since I'm telling you everything, can I ask you something?'

'Sure, let's get it over with.'

'Do you like Hermione?'

'What?! No way! I mean I like her, she's my friend, but not like that!'

'Oh really?' She seemed even more embarrassed but relieved at the same time.

'I've never liked her you know, and she's never liked me. She's going out with my friend Ron now.'

'Well I feel really stupid now … so do you want to?'

He was about to answer her when Madam Pompfrey came in.

'You again Potter? Get out, and stop keeping her up so late!'

'Just a few more minutes, Ma'am' he begged

'No! Get out now, there's nothing that can't wait until tomorrow' she snapped at him.

He wanted to answer her but he was being dragged out physically by Madam Pompfrey and she wasn't going to change her mind.

'Well, see you Harry' Cho said with a disappointed tone

'Err yeah bye' but as he was about to be thrown out he lip-synched 'I'll be back later' to her.

He went back to his common room and sat down on his bed. He felt extremely confused; he had been sure just last week that he felt nothing for her, yet after talking with her so much he was feeling something again. He knew he had no choice; he had to go back and talk to her _tonight. He grabbed his cloak and map and headed back to the medical wing._

'Cho?' he whispered

'You came back!' she whispered back delightedly.

'I said I would, but why are we talking in the dark? _Lumos__.___

He tried to partially cover the light with his cloak while they talked in quiet whispers.

'So do you want to go to hogsmeade with me this weekend?' she asked eagerly.

'Oh sure, I mean I don't see the harm. Maybe we could go with Ron and Hermione'

'Oh … well yes, I suppose, I'd like to get to know your friends, but I wanted us to go alone.' She was turning red again now and the awkwardness had returned.

'Oh …'

'You know Harry, if you want to ask me out, I'll say yes' she blushed

He looked down at his feet uncomfortably, unable to look her in the eyes.

'Look, it's not that I don't want to, but I really don't think it's a good idea you know? People around me keep dying off' he said miserably'

She looked at him a moment as if she was about to cry, but then her voice became more assertive

'So that's what's been stopping you? Don't you think it's my choice if I want to risk my life?'

'You don't know what it's like to lose someone; I never want to feel that again.'

He stared her in the eyes now, he felt full of bitterness. He would give anything for a normal life like everyone else.

'I don't know what it's like?' She said incredulously. 'How could you say that?'

'I… sorry I forgot, that was really insensitive of me.'

'I understand how you feel, but I think you're wrong. You can't let him ruin your life like that, or you might as well already be dead.'

He looked up at her, and her eyes were filled with a fierce determination.

'And I'm not just saying this so you'll go out with me, it's just good advice!'

Harry thought about it. After all, his mom must have known about the danger his father was in, yet she still chose to stay with him. She might have lived, but he would never have been born. He was reminded of something Dumbledore once said. 

_"_The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed."__

'I… I think its best if I –'

But before he could finish they heard someone quickly walking towards the medical ward.

'Someone's coming! You have to go!' she whispered.

'Then, without thinking what he was doing, he grabbed her by the shoulders, pulled her close, and kissed her.

She sat there staring at him in shock for a second and then fiercely whispered 'Go!'

He grabbed his cloak and map, cast the feather fall spell, and jumped out the window.

* * *


	7. Snape's Secret

* * *

Chapter 7 – Snape's Secret

* * *

Harry woke up and immediately remembered what day it was; Friday! Today Cho would be released from the medical wing and they would finally be able to spend time together. He didn't know what had come over him when he kissed her; all he knew was that he wanted to see her again soon. 

He got up and showered himself before going down to the great hall. Since it was still early he was one of the first there; he decided to open his transfiguration book and review while he waited for breakfast. He already knew the work off by heart but since he couldn't read the book he had stolen from the library he decided to brush up one last time. 

A half hour later Ginny sat down in front of him and looked at him suspiciously before breaking out into a big grin.

'What are you so cheerful about?' he frowned at her

'It's the look on your face; it gives it away you know?' 

'Eh? What look?' he said with a puzzled tone.

'You've got a crush on someone!' she said still grinning

'I do not!' he said in a defensive tone.

'You must like her an awful lot to be glowing that much.'

'You're imagining it, I don't know what you're talking about' he glowered at her.

'Oh there's no need to be embarrassed about it, unless of course she's not human. You're not dating a Troll are you?' she giggled

'I'm not dating anyone, or anything; now if you don't mind I'd like to concentrate on this book.'

'Well don't worry, Ron and Hermione wouldn't tell me either. The only clue they gave me is that she has a flat nose.'

'Cho does _not_ have a flat nose!' he retorted, but immediately clenched his teeth together.

 'So its Cho is it?' she said delightedly.

'I will curse you into oblivion if you spread this around.'

'Don't worry, I won't tell anyone; your secret is safe with me' she winked at him.

During the next hour the rest of school slowly started filtering into the great hall for breakfast. He kept his eyes down while eating his breakfast, but every time he looked at Ginny she was staring at him with an expression of curiosity. 

He was about to tell her to look somewhere else when the morning mail started arriving and to his surprise an owl dropped a letter right in front of him.

'Hey that's Fred and George's owl' Ron exclaimed.

'Open it Harry, tell us what it says' Ginny added.

'Have you heard of the concept of privacy?' he snapped at Ginny

With an annoyed look on his face he got up and walked back to his dorm where he could read the letter in peace

_Dear Harry,_

_Good news partner! Everything has been prepared and the plan is ready to be set in motion. The world will never know what hit it when our pranks are distributed world wide to every oppressed student! There's something else we need to discuss, but we can't do it by owls. We need to meet you right away, so next Hogsmeade trip you'd better be at the three broomsticks at __noon__ or we'll try our latest inventions out on you!_

_Your partners,_

_Fred and George_

If they couldn't discuss it over owls then it couldn't be anything good. Knowing them they probably wanted him to test their latest invention on his fellow students or something. He made a mental note to meet them tomorrow before getting his bag ready for class. 

In the evening they had quidditch practice, and Ron focused hard on the mistakes they had made last game. They spent an hour practicing the positioning and tactics and then spent a second hour playing a scrimmage. Since their three chasers were trying to score on Ron, Dean, and Seamus, it left Harry feeling rather redundant. He spent the entire hour releasing the snitch and then hunting it down, but since there was no opposing seeker to compete with it felt rather pointless. When Ron finally called the practice to a halt they landed on the ground and got off their brooms

'Hey Harry' Ron said as he gave him a nudge, 'there's someone waiting for you'.

On the other side of the field he saw Cho, who looked slightly nervous as he approached. 

'Hi'

'Hi … err you're out, that's great'

'Yeah, I can't play quidditch for another month though.'

'Oh, right. Well, I should go and …'

'Oh, can't I come with you?' she said with a blush.

'Err I was going to say I should go and shower'

'Oh no!' she said and looked mortified 'oh go ahead then, I – I'll see you around'

'Wait! Would you like to, err, do something later tonight?'

'Oh yes!'

'Do you want to meet at nine o clock then, and maybe we could go for a walk or something?'

'I'd love to' she beamed at him, 'I'll meet you at the gate then?'

'Sure'

When he met her at the gate they walked down to the lake together and watched the sun go down. The orange glow made the entire lake look like liquid gold, and they stopped sat down in front of a log to admire the view.

'So did you get in trouble after I jumped out the window?'

'Oh no, I pretended to be asleep; it was just madam Pompfrey making her rounds. Nice jump though.' She grinned

'Oh, Thanks.' 

'So tomorrow is a Hogsmeade trip, do you want to go?'

'Sure. I'd love to. But err, listen, you don't mind if we briefly meet some friends of mine do you?'

'Oh sure, if you want to.' She seemed slightly disappointed at the question.

 'Well it won't take long. They're the two twins who played as beaters on our team.'

'Those two were funny. Why do you need to see them?'

'They're, ah, running a joke shop, and I'm err, kind of involved'

'Oh that's so neat, we could all use more laughs I think? Remember how everyone used to slip dungbombs under Umbridge's door last year?'

'Yeah, well they made me their partner since I gave them the money to start their shop.'

'Oh you did?'

'Well yeah, I didn't want to keep the money they gave me for winning the triwizard tournament, so I gave it all away to them.'

He looked over at her and saw that she was crying again.

'Err Cho, are you ok? Look, was it something I said?' 

'Oh no, sorry,' She said as she rushed to wipe her eyes with her sleeve, 'that's just really great of you.'

They sat in silence again as the last rays of sunshine over the horizon were starting to fade. He was trying to think of something to say when she moved closer and rested her head against his shoulder. Unsure of what to do, he lifted his arm up and put it around her shoulder. They didn't say anything for the next half hour; they just sat there leaning against the log and holding each other. For the first time this year Harry felt truly happy again. He felt like he could forget everything that had ever happened to him as long as he was sitting there with her. 

'Who's that over there? It's after ten; students shouldn't be out of the castle!'

A large shape came closer and he saw that it was Hagrid again, coming back from the forbidden forest.

'Is that you again Harry?? And who's that with ye? Oh Blimey, sorry' and Hagrid let out a big grin.

'We were just talking Hagrid' he said, as both he and Cho went bright red. 

'Sure ye were; I didn't see nuthin'. I'll just be off now, and you two just pretend I was never 'ere.'

When he had left they looked at each other again and it was Cho who first spoke. 

'Well suppose I should be going anyways, it's getting late, but I'll see you tomorrow then?'

'Right, I'll err walk back to the castle with you.'

They reached the bottom of the stairs to where they had to part ways and they turned and looked at each other.

'So shall we meet here tomorrow at nine?' Harry asked her

'Ok sure, well goodnight'

'Goodnight'

She didn't turn away however, but instead stared at him expectantly, and turning bright red he realized what she was waiting for. He leaned in closer and their lips touched for a moment, it felt wet and Harry was unsure of what to do next until she pulled away. She smiled and then turned around and walked up the stairs to the Ravenclaw dorm. 

He lay in bed for hours that night, too excited to sleep and his stomach turning in notches. He could not stop thinking about her scent; sweet and subtle like a soft breeze through the wild grass, and her dark eyes which radiated life and beauty. 

It's going to be a long night he thought to himself.

He met her the next morning at the bottom of the stairs and they walked together towards the gate where Filch was signing people out. 

'So what would you like to do?' he asked her

'We can go choose Dobby's socks! I'd like to buy him a pair too since he was so nice to me. And we can go see your friends in Diagon Alley, since you're supposed to. Is there anything else you want to do?'

'Well I suppose we could do some early Christmas shopping couldn't we?'

'Ooh yes, I'd like that.'

As they walked past the lake to Hogsmeade she slipped her hand in his and smiled at him. 

'Harry ... we are going out right?'

'Err yeah, of course. I mean, aren't we?'

'Well you never actually asked; to make it official you know?'

'Oh. Well will you go out with me?'

She grinned and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

'I thought you'd never ask, of course I will.'

'Great' he grinned 

In Gladrags wizard wear they chose out a dozen different pairs of socks for Dobby, and laughed as they switched around all they mixed them all up so that each pair was made up of different colors. After that they went to Dervish and Banges to look at all the magical items, and made a stop at Honeydukes to buy some sweets.

When they had walked around most of Hogsmeade it was almost lunch time and they went to meet Fred and George.

The twins were sitting in the corner drinking their butterbeers, and stood up as they approached.

'Harry! Glad you could make it mate!'

'Yeah have a seat pal, butterbeer is on us.'

'Thanks, oh this is my fr - girlfriend, Cho Chang.'

'Delighted to meet you' Fred said, 'you're the Ravenclaw seeker right?'

'Not bad Harry' George whispered to him as he gave him a friendly nudge, 'and older than you too! Very nice!'

'So what's so urgent?' Harry asked as they sat down and George ordered four more butterbeers.

'Well we finished the catalogs; here take a look' and he pulled a thick volume from his bag and put it on the table. Inside were detailed and illustrated explanations of all the different items and their various prices. 

'Wow, you guys have really expanded your inventory!'

'Yeah' George grinned, we reckon we've found our calling in life, we have. Been working like house-elves trying to get this done.'

'Which brings us to the next point in the plan' Fred continued; 'advertising!'

'We need you to start distributing these around Hogwarts you see? Start the ball rolling, spread the word of mouth. We'd ask Ron but mom would kill him if she found out. So are you in?'

'Yeah of course' he grinned

'So am I' Cho jumped in; 'I'd be happy to pass these around Ravenclaw house'

'Smashing!' the twins exclaimed, 'that takes care of Hogwarts.'

They talked for another hour after that, as they told him all about the business in exchange he told them the latest Hogwarts gossip. They were delighted to hear about Ron and Hermione, though Harry made them promise not to tease him over it. When they had exhausted all conversation they said their goodbyes to each other and went on their way.

'They were really nice, I liked them.' Cho said as they walked the main road

'Yeah, but don't ever accept any gifts from them.' Harry grinned 

He looked over at Cho and felt warm inside. All his problems seemed to wash away when he looked in her eyes. She caught his stare and blushed but didn't look away. 

The first week of December Harry walked to Dumbledore's study; he was excited because today he got to choose what he wanted to learn next. They had finished the apparition lessons last week; and he had successfully managed to apparate from the ministry building to Diagon alley, and from there to Hogsmeade, and then back to the ministry. He had thought long and hard about what he wanted to learn from the Headmaster, and his personal longings were conflicting with his common sense. He had always wanted to be an animagus but it wouldn't be that useful in the fight against Voldemort, and he knew he couldn't afford to waste time this valuable time pursuing hobbies. He had finally decided on asking if Dumbledore would help him improve his dueling skills even further. When he stepped into the office he saw that the Headmaster had not yet arrived, so he sat down into the chair and waited for him. The sorting hat was wide awake now and looked at him.

'Ah Mr. Potter, do you still think I put you in the wrong house?'

'No I suppose you were right' he said thoughtfully.

'Yes, very interesting mind you had. Very interesting, wouldn't mind having another look someday.'

He reached out for the hat, but at that a moment a voice snarled out behind him

'You have a habit of nosing in things that don't belong to you Potter' 

'Professor Snape! What are _you doing here?' he said shocked_

Snape sneered at him and walked into the room. 

'The Headmaster had to leave on urgent business, and he has asked me to give you your lesson this week. I can't imagine you've gotten any better at Occlumency, but we'll find out won't we?' he said still sneering at Harry.

'But we've already covered Occlumency.'

'Then we'll see if you can do any better this time won't we? And you will address me as Sir!'

Harry was furious, but he knew his anger would compromise his skill at Occlumency so he tried to calm himself down. Snape's sneering certainly wasn't making it easy for him. 

'So take out your wand Potter, and prepare yourself. On three! One - two - three _legilimens._

Harry did his best to block the attack, not letting Snape enter his mind, and it was definitely working. Snape looked taken aback, but he quickly recovered his disdainful attitude.

'So… you have improved, but that was an easy attack to fend off, and you were prepared for it. Even your father could have stopped that one.' He sneered

'HOW DARE YOU MENTION –'

'_legilimens_' Snape said and caught him by surprise this time.

The room swirled in front of him as memories started appearing in front of his eyes. He saw Cho Chang in front of him, and she was crying. She was moving towards him after the secret DA meeting – _no! The memory quickly changed as he tried to fight it. Now he was back on the quidditch field, and she was lying there again in a pool of blood with teachers rushing for her. __NO! _

'Get … out … of … my …. Mind.'

For a moment he saw the room come back into focus but Snape renewed his efforts and he fell back into the trance-like memories.

Now he was at the ministry. He saw himself dueling with the deatheaters. He saw Sirius dueling with Bellatrix, and then he was hit with a jet of light …

'Noooo' he screamed!

His mind was filled with emotion, and it seemed to weaken Snape's attack. In a split second he cast the shield spell and Snape's eyes went wide with horror.

The room swirled again, but this time he could still perceive reality behind the things he was seeing. Now he was in Snape's mind, and Snape's memories were flashing in front of him. 

He saw the skinny black haired boy being mocked wherever he went. He saw him crying in a corner when no one was looking, and plotting revenge against everyone who had made fun of him. The memory changed, now he saw the same boy looking very nervous, as if he was about to be tested on something important. The boy went to the great hall which was mostly empty, and walked straight to the Gryffindor table. Some of the other Gryffindors who were there looked at him curiously and thought as if they might pull out their wands and curse him. He walked straight to a beautiful girl who had green eyes and long red hair. His mother!

'Get … out … of … my … head Potter!'

'NO! Let me see!' 

With a fanatical longing he poured every fiber of his mental strength into keeping the connection. He had to see his mother again! His emotions felt like they were tearing his mind apart, but underneath it all there was the burning desire to see the rest of that memory, and he forced all his desperation into the connection.

'What do you want?' the red haired girl asked him with a frown on her face.

'I was wondering … c-c-could I talk to you for a m-m-moment?'

The greasy black haired boy looked as if he was about to faint, but he managed to look her in the eyes while his hands shook.

'If you want to say something to me, say it here.' She snapped

'Well I was wondering if … if y-y-you'd go to the ball with me?'

The girl was clearly surprised, but the frown quickly reasserted itself.

'You called me a mudblood, and now you're asking me to the dance?'

'I'm … I'm really sorry about that, I  ... I w-w-wish I could take it back, I was so angry at the time …' 

All of a sudden the girl's expression melted and she looked at the boy with sympathetic eyes.

'I forgive you Severus, but I'm afraid I already said yes to someone else.'

'Oh … w-w-who are you going with?' he looked as if he was about to cry, and the girl hesitated a moment before answering.

'Well … I'm going with James Potter …. but if you show up I promise to dance with you once Severus.' 

She added the last part on very quickly. It was clear that she was trying to be as nice as possible; she knew how much they hated each other.

'You're going with Potter?' the boy said with a look of disbelief. 'But he's …. he's …'

The boy's eyes were filled with hatred now, it was almost scary to behold. His voice had become very cold when he answered.

'Have fun then Evans, I'm sure you two will make a wonderful pair' and after those words he stormed off. The memory swirled again. He could see the boy crying now, huddled in a corner full of anger and misery. It changed again, the boy was not much older but he was surrounded by adults. He was surrounded by men in dark cloaks, deatheaters, and he had his sleeve pulled up and his arm revealed. 

'GET OUT!'

Harry had forgotten to keep forcing himself into Snape's mind out of the sheer shock of what he saw, and now the connection had been broken.

'HOW … HOW DARE YOU?'

Snape's face was white with rage now, he looked as though he were about to lunge forward at Harry.

'How dare you force yourself into my mind?' he yelled.

But Harry was still angry too, and what he had seen had come as somewhat of a revelation to him.

'So all this time it was jealousy that made you hate me, you're pathetic you know that?' he screamed back at Snape.

Snape was still shaking with anger, but he was sneering now.

'I knew your father was no good, I knew he was going to get her killed, and she was a fool for marrying him. She would still have been alive if it wasn't for your reckless father!'

His voice had gone into a cold fury now, and his face was filled with hatred.

'So that's why you hate me is it, because I remind you of your jealousy? It's pathetic'

'No Potter, your mother was too good for your worthless father, but she never saw it. She died because of him, and because of you! You're just like him, reckless and too full of yourself!'

'Don't say that about my father.' 

Now he raised his wand and pointed it at Snape. All the years of abuse had culminated into this, the inevitable fight between them.

Snape had his wand pointed at Harry too.

'Attacking a teacher Potter? I wouldn't start something you can't finish, but I'll be more than glad to see you expelled!'

'I've had enough of you Snivel-!

'Both of you lower your wands NOW!'

Dumbledore had walked in the office and he looked angrily at both of them.

'Harry, go to your room immediately! I wish to speak to Professor Snape alone.'

He cast another look at Snape who lowered his wand slightly but did not put it away. It was clear that if the Headmaster had not come back at that moment they would have tried to injure each other. He lowered his wand too and then with a last look at Dumbledore and Snape he stormed out of the office. 

Someday, he thought as he walked down the stairs, someday when I'm finished with this school, I'm going to settle this with Snape once and for all. 

* * *


	8. The Enchanted Tree

* * *

Chapter 8 – The Enchanted Tree

* * *

The weather outside was snowing now, and the Hogwarts grounds were covered in a beautiful white tapestry. There were only three days left before Christmas and the castle was now very empty as many of its students had gone home. Ron and Hermione had both stayed, as had Ginny and Dean, but most of the other Gryffindors had chosen to spend the holidays with their families. 

Harry lay in bed pondering the question that had been on his mind for the last week; what would be the perfect Christmas gift for Cho? Hermione had told him to make something himself because an expensive present would be inappropriate, but she didn't know that when it came to arts and crafts Harry had two left hands. He needed something that was both highly personal and thoughtful, something that would show the effort he put into it, and yet something that was not too expensive. He let out a deep sigh; the more he thought about it the more his mind suffocated. _Concentrate!_

Something that would bring her comfort; something that would remind her of him; and something he had made himself. _Now I just need to put it all together he groaned._

A necklace … If he could enchant a necklace somehow, that would work. 

 'Morning, you thinking about the same thing I am?' Ron sighed at him.

'Yeah, but I may have an idea.' Harry said thoughtfully

'What is it?'

'Hey, come up with your own ideas!'

'Thanks _buddy_.'

'What are friends for? Now I'm going down to the library to research something.'

'Fine, but there's a big snowball fight planned for later on, so you'd better be there! I owe you at least a face full of snow for holding out on me.'

'Sure, I'll be there' he grinned.

When he arrived at the library he began searching the shelves for anything of interest, but frustration soon set in as shelf after shelf contained nothing relevant. After half an hour of browsing he came across a title that peaked his curiosity; _Enchanting Magical Objects With Auras by Rojas Ravenwolf._

He took the book out and scrolled through the index and found the chapter he was looking for; '_Embedding a part of yourself into an object_.'

That's it! He sat down on the ground and began skimming over the instructions, but soon became very disappointed. This was hardly his area of expertise, and he realized the instructions were far beyond his skill level. There was no way he could finish it within three days if the enchantment involved advanced charm and potion work; he needed help, and he knew exactly who would be able to help him. He bookmarked the page and ran back to the Gryffindor room with the book under his arm. 

'Ginny!'

'Morning Harry, fancy a game of chess?'

'No, I need you to get Hermione for me right away!'

'Sure, no problem, Ginny do this and Ginny do that' she grumbled. 

'Please? It's urgent, and you know I can't go into the girl's side of the tower.'

'Fine, hold your horses, I'll go get her.'

A minute later they came down together and he pulled Hermione aside to tell her his idea.

'Oh that's a great idea, and I thought you men would never come up with anything thoughtful.'

'Occasionally we get lucky I guess' and he grinned at her. He was rather pleased for thinking of it all by himself.

'I've been hinting at Ron all week for what I want, but I doubt he's picked up on it. I'll probably end up getting a book or something' and she rolled her eyes at the thought of it. 

'Well if you help me with this, maybe I can tell him what he should get you. That way you get what you want and he'll never have to know it was you who told me.'

'Deal' she grinned, 'now show me the instructions.'

As she read the pages pertaining to the particular enchantment he wanted her face kept changing from 'oooh' and 'aaaah' to 'oh dear' and 'that's not good.'

'So what's the verdict?' he asked gloomily, 'can we do it?'

'I think so, but there are some things that are going to be hard. First of all we need a certain type of necklace, it has to be made of silver, and it must have a hollow pendant to put your blood in –'

'My blood? I didn't see that part!'

'It's only a few drops, don't be such a wimp'

'But isn't that dark magic? Using people's blood?'

'Oh no, not at all; this is actually defensive magic, and it can only work if the blood is given willingly.'

'Alright, what else?'

'There are some ingredients that are very hard to get too; we'd have to get them from Diagon Alley.'

'Not a problem, I'll ask Fred and George to send them to me.'

'And finally we need a teardrop from Cho. The enchantment is particular to one person you see? So mixing your blood with her tears will mean the necklace embodies your bravery to overcome her fear.'

'A teardrop from Cho? You're asking the impossible there' he said sarcastically.

'She's still crying a lot is she?' Hermione asked with an expression of sympathy.

'Nah, it's not so bad these days; but occasionally I still bring up the wrong thing.'

'Well after you give her this, I'm sure she'll feel a lot better! I'm envious you know, Ron would never come up with an idea like this on his own; he's such a _guy_.' She paused for a moment, 'but then that's why I like him' she grinned in a deciding sort of way.

'Uh yeah, whatever' Harry grinned back, 'let's get to work'

'Ok you get the silver necklace, make sure it has a small hollow pendant, just big enough to store about two drops of liquid. I'll get all the other things we need and prepare the enchantment. Don't get the teardrop and blood yet, those are the last two things we need to add. We'll do that tomorrow when we have everything else. Ok?'

'Let's do it – and thanks Hermione. I owe you one' 

'Don't mention it, this is actually really interesting. It will be fun to learn this – hey I saw that! Don't roll your eyes at me or I won't help you!'

'See you later!' He grinned as she tried to punch his arm, 'I'm going to sneak off to Hogsmeade.'

He had found exactly the thing he was looking for; a thin silver necklace with a small pendant in the shape of a swan, just like her patronus animal. The swan couldn't have been bigger than the tip of his pinkie, but it was hollowed out and could store the few drops of liquid he needed it to. He stored the necklace in his trunk and went outside for the planned snowball fight. 

He walked through the thick snow, as high as his ankles in the places where people hadn't walked, and made his way to the quidditch field. Had he just seen something moving behind that bush? He crept closer, trying to mask the sound of his footsteps, until he could get close enough to see what it was.

There, behind a bush where they thought no one could see them were Ginny and Dean, engaged in some after-class activities. Harry smiled; this was too good to pass up. He owed Ginny one for being such an inquisitive brat, and quietly he pressed together some snow and took aim.

*splat*

'Harry!' Dean blurted out

'You really should find a more private spot you know' he grinned at them

'I - am - going - to - kill - you Harry' and Ginny started making a snowball to throw back.

'See you at the field lovebirds' and he ran off with Ginny chasing him.

It was a complete free for all, it seemed everyone had some built up tension and acting like kids helped release it. He was about to throw a snowball at an unsuspecting third year when he saw McGonagall and Dumbledore walking by.

Mcgonagall looked extremely annoyed as she approached; a look of disapproval on her face.

'I would have expected more appropriate behavior from sixth and seventh years' she snapped,  'you should be setting an examples for the younger – _oh Albus I - cannot - believe - you!'_

But Dumbledore paid no attention as he took the snowball he had made and threw it at a terrified first year. McGonagall's head looked like was giving off steam but the headmaster seemed oblivious and was sporting a big grin and the trademark twinkle in his eye as he made himself another snowball. 

While the other students may have been reluctant to throw back at their headmaster, Harry wasted no time in aiming at Dumbledore.

As Harry and Dumbledore threw snowballs at each other it gave the other students a new sense of bravery and they quickly joined in. Dumbledore seemed to realize he was outnumbered and he took out his wand and waved it, making dozens of snowballs roll themselves and start flying at people all around him.

'Cool sir!' Ron yelled.

'Hey no fair!' Harry grinned.

'Albus that's enough, we have to go!'

The headmaster reluctantly stopped the spell and walked off with Professor McGonagall leaving the students to finish the battle. 

'We've got the coolest headmaster in the world' Ron said

Everyone seemed to agree with this, although the first year who had been hit by Dumbledore's first snowball was still in shock.

He was about to throw another snowball at Ron when he heard Cho's voice behind him

'Oh Harrry …'

He turned around only to be greeted by a handful of snow in his face.

'What was that for?'

'You were supposed to meet me fifteen minutes ago, so I'd say you deserved that one.'

'Oh right' he grinned, 'sorry.'

'You're forgiven, now let's go.'

He followed her and started brushing the snow off his robes to try and look at least halfway respectable.

'So what are we doing?' he asked

'Well if I tell you it won't be a surprise.'

She grabbed his hand and led him to the edge of the forbidden forest, and then walked over to a particularly large oak tree. When they went around the back of it he saw that it was carved full of initials.

'So what do you think?'

'Wow, I never even knew about this.'

'They say it's been here for over a hundred years, enchanted to preserve the initials people carve in them.'

He started searching the tree for a pair of initials from around twenty years ago, could it be there?

'What are you looking for?'

There it was. 

'This' he pointed to where someone had carved 'J.P. ♥ L.E. 1978'

'My parents; James Potter and Lily Evans' he said while still examining the markings

'Oh Harry, I'm so sorry …' and she started crying now 'I didn't mean to remind …'

'What? Oh, no, I'm glad you showed me. Err, really, you don't have to cry.'

'But that's an awful thing to be reminded off, how could I be so thoughtless?'

'Well I'm not upset about it at all, but could you do me favor?'

'Of course' she said with a puzzled look

'Ok this may seem really weird, but could I have one of your teardrops?'

he took out the small glass tube he had stashed in his robes just in case an opportunity presented itself.

'You want one of my tears? What on earth for?'

'Do you trust me?' he grinned at her, 'It's for a surprise.'

She still had a confused look on her face but took the tube and let a tear fall in it before wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

'Thanks, now are you ready to carve?'

They carved their initials right below his parents, and now the log would forever say

'J.P. ♥ L.E. 1978'

'H.P. ♥ C.C 1996'

* * *


	9. The Perfect Gift

* * *

Chapter 9 – The Perfect Gift

* * *

He lay in bed on Christmas morning with a mild sense of panic. Hermione had helped him finish the Necklace yesterday, but they were unsure if it actually worked. Since the enchantment was specific to Cho, it would only work on her and they could not know whether they had succeeded until she tried it on. 

He took the Necklace out of his trunk where it lay wrapped in a piece of black cloth and stared at it. The tiny elegant swan made of silver shone in his hand; even without the enchantment it would still be beautiful he thought. He carefully rewrapped the necklace and put it back in his trunk. 

When he got out of bed he looked at the Christmas tree in their dorm he saw that there were at least a dozen presents this year for him, even more than the year before. He grabbed the first one and saw that it was from Mr. and Mrs.Weasley; another sweater Harry grinned, as he pulled the red and gold sweater out of the wrapping.

'Presents!' Ron exclaimed as he walked in and sat down next to Harry. 

'Here, this one's from me. Hope you like it.'

'Wow, the brand new Chudley Cannon team robes, thanks Harry!'

'No problem, thank your mom for the sweater.'

They started opening the rest of their presents, and the noise woke up Dean and Seamus who eagerly joined them. Before long Ginny and Hermione arrived, and they too joined in the fervent unwrapping. 

All things said, it was a very good catch this year. Lupin had given him a marvelous biographical book on the best duelers of all time, with detailed descriptions of the various techniques they used to win tournaments and duels.  Hagrid had sent him an assortment of sweets, including Bernie Botts every flavor beans, which were his favorite. He liked Hermione's present the best of all though; she had made him a scrapbook with all the events of their fifth year in it. Pictures of the DA, of Fred and George's pranks, and various newspaper cutouts detailing all the events of last year. It would be a nice reminder someday when he was looking back on his time at Hogwarts. Hermione was equally delighted with the present he had bought her; a book of advanced magical remedies and healing techniques for the prospective student. 

When Ron and Hermione opened each other's presents Harry pretended to clean up to give them some privacy, but he couldn't help overhearing.

 'It's exactly what I wanted, how did you know Ron?' making Ron blush as she gave him a hug. When Ron wasn't looking she winked at Harry, and mouthed 'thanks' with a grin.

After breakfast he hid the necklace in his robes and went to meet Cho. She had her hair tied back in beautiful ponytail and was waiting for him nervously with a present under her arm. He grabbed her hand and led her to a secluded place of the castle where they found privacy, and then she gave him her gift. As he tore open her present he was greeted with a beautiful hand drawn picture, framed, of the two of them. He was standing straight with his firebolt in his right arm, and his left arm around Cho's shoulders, who in turn had her arms around his waist. 

'I made it myself, I hope you like it' she said as she studied his expression.

'It's beautiful; I can't believe you drew this!'

'You really like it?'

'It's brilliant; it must have taken you ages. I'm going to hang it right next to my bed.'

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, and then took out the wrapped necklace from his robes. 

'I hope you like this too' he said nervously as he handed her the necklace wrapped in a piece of soft cloth.

She opened it and picked up the necklace and held it high; letting it hang down, and then looked at him.

'It's a swan' he said nervously, 'like your patronus.'

'It's beautiful' she said with a grin.

'Put it on; tell me if you sense anything.' He said nervously

She fastened it around her neck and then held the swan in the palm of her hand, before looking at him with curious eyes.

'I … I feel strength, like I'm not afraid of anything' she said slowly

'It's not just an ordinary necklace; I put an enchantment on it that is supposed to instill a sense of my strength in you, my bravery.' He said. 'That's why I needed your teardrop' he added as an afterthought.'

Slowly comprehension dawned on her face, and she looked at the necklace and then back at him.

'I don't know what to say … it's … it's beautiful.'

He grinned awkwardly, and was starting to feel unsure of himself now. Did she really like it? He wished she would just say it if she didn't, at least he would know. 

She must have noticed the look on his face, because at that moment she let go of the necklace and put her arms on his shoulders.

'This is the best present anyone has ever given to me' and she leaned closer to him and kissed him. 

'You really like it?' he asked embarrassedly as their lips parted

'You don't believe me? What can I do to persuade you that I love it?' and she drew closer again. 

The day passed before it had even begun, and they hurried to the kitchens together before the Christmas feast that evening. Harry opened the concealed door by tickling the pear, and they walked into the kitchens where the Elves were working hard at preparing the food. 

'Dobby?' he called out

'Harry Potter!' a delighted voice shouted, and a moment later Dobby came running up to them. 

'Hi Dobby, we just came by to give you your present.'

Dobby looked at him with his great big teary eyes and then grinned at him

'Dobby made Harry Potter a present too! And his friend who was nice to Dobby too!

He ran off and came back a few seconds later with two badly wrapped presents with about ten times too much tape holding it all in place.

'Wow Dobby, a pair of purple and yellow socks, just what I wanted!' Harry lied through his teeth as he opened it.

'Oh and I got orange and blue' Cho grinned, 'How did you know those are my favorite colors Dobby?'

'Dobby knitted them himself' he beamed at them.

'Here Dobby, these are for you' Cho said as she gave him the bag with a dozen pairs of different colored socks. 

Dobby opened it and then looked at them with a shocked face.

'But … Dobby is wondering, who are all these pairs for?' he asked with a confused expression

'They're all for you Dobby, we wanted to give you a lots of socks to show you how much we appreciate your help.' He said kindly

'And we chose the colors ourselves, I hope you like them' Cho added.

Harry noticed that most of the other elves had stopped working and were now staring at Dobby with envious expressions. 

'Dobby like them?' and he started crying. 'Dobby knew Harry Potter was the greatest and kindest wizard in the world, and his friend too is kind and caring too, but Dobby does not deserve so many socks!'

'Err sure you do Dobby, you deserve all the socks in the world.' Harry assured him

'Especially since you were so helpful' Cho continued, 'You're the best house-elf I know' 

'Well we'd better be going to the feast now, but drop by anytime you want Dobby.'

He looked at the other house-elves who were all staring wide-eyed at the number of socks Dobby was holding, but quickly got back to work when they saw him staring at them. 

Dobby walked them to the entrance, all the while thanking them profusely and promising to knit them a full wardrobe for next year. 

The best Christmas holidays Harry had ever had passed so quickly that he nearly forgot about his lessons with Dumbledore, and it was with a sense of elated excitement that he walked through the corridors to the office.

'Ah Harry, come in please. I trust you've had a good Christmas?'

'Very good sir' Harry said politely.

'Now I realize this is a little late, but I wanted to give it to you in person. Here is your present.'

'Oh - thanks'

Harry felt embarrassed; he hadn't even thought of getting Dumbledore anything. 

'I realize what you are thinking, and I assure you it would be impossible to find something I don't already have.' He said as his eyes twinkled. 'Now please open it.'

Harry tore open the wrapping paper on the rectangular box, and inside was an empty glass container. 

'Err, thank you sir' he said with a puzzled look

Dumbledore chuckled however.

'Although it can be used as such if you wish, it is _not a fishbowl. If you'll take a closer look at the empty container and compare it to the one on that shelf there you should see the resemblance._

'Wow sir, a pensieve? Thanks a lot.' 

'Not at all, I am sure you have some thoughts you'd like to put away every now and then. You must remember though that running from one's own memory will not help, and it should not be used for such a purpose.'

'Right.' Harry nodded thoughtfully. He was still trying to imagine the possibilities of owning such an item.

'Now I must apologize for not being able to be there last lesson; I was called away on urgent business for the ministry at the last moment. From what I understand you did a fabulous job of defending yourself against Professor Snape's legilimency attacks, despite the fact I had asked him to simply to tell you the lesson was cancelled. 

'You mean, he broke into my mind for no reason at all?' 

'Despite the animosity between you two, I think he felt I would be too soft on you and he wanted to see if you really had become more skilled at occlumency. Suffice it to say that he was most taken aback with your abilities.'

Dumbledore looked at him and smiled, before continuing.

'So, as promised I will teach you something of your own choice. What would you like to learn?'

'I'd like to learn how to duel better sir.'

'Ah yes, I suspected as much when you took that book from the restricted section.'

'Oh err, you know?' he asked guiltily

'Yes, and I am happy that you are serious about learning more than your coursework, however I must caution you about the path you are treading.'

With these words he took of his glassed and rubbed his temples before putting them back on and continuing. 

'I am reminded of another great student of mine, from fifty years ago, who also used to sneak into the restricted section and study some very dangerous books.'

'Tom Riddle?'

Dumbledore nodded.

'He used to spend every moment of spare time immersed in books when he first arrived at Hogwarts. I daresay that by his fourth year he knew more about magic than some of the staff members. From the very beginning he was obsessed with learning everything he could, and this obsession may have helped him down the path he has taken. Now I realize that your intentions are completely different, but you must exercise caution when learning such terrible power. 

Harry nodded, and Dumbledore smiled before continuing.

'I will speak to Madam Pince and allow you full access to the restricted section; you have never disappointed me in the past and it is only fitting that I repay your loyalty with my trust.'

Harry looked at him and saw that Dumbledore had a look of pride on his face, like a father giving his son the car keys for the first time. 

'Now then, let's start our lesson shall we? Stand up please and take out your wand.'

Harry stood up and with a shaking hand pulled his wand out. He was both intimidated and excited; was the headmaster really going to duel with him? After what he had seen last year at the ministry, how could he possible stand a chance against the most powerful wizard in the world?

'There are of course many different skills required to be an effective dueler. Sharp reflexes, knowledge, quick thinking, to name a few, but none of these things I can teach you. I am going to help you with your technique - do you remember the brief duel between Voldemort and I last year?'

Harry nodded; 'you were able to disappear and reappear somewhere else, like you were disapparating.'

'Exactly, why block an attack when you can simply dodge it? While you are defending yourself your opponent is busy preparing his next attack, but if you are able to reappear somewhere else it will force him to adapt.'

That made sense; it would be harder to focus on casting a spell while also keeping track of a moving opponent. 

'So I am going to teach you how to use your recently acquired apparition skills to duel. Let's take a portkey to the ministry shall we? We can practice there.'

After the familiar navel jerk they arrived in the large empty white room again, and Dumbledore took out his wand and pointed it at Harry.

'I assume you haven't forgotten how to apparate, so when I cast a simple jinx at you I would like you to simple reappear behind me. Ready?'

Harry nodded, but his wand hand was shaking. 

_'tarrantallegra'_

The moment Dumbledore waved his wand he tried to disapparate but he panicked and said the incantation wrong, and next thing he knew his legs were dancing out of control. 

'_finite__ incantatem. Try to calm yourself Harry, though it is not unwise to use your emotions in a battle you should never let them control you. Let's try again shall we?'_

He waved his hand again but this time Harry began his spell the moment he saw Dumbledore move his hand, and ended up almost at the spot he had focused on.

'Very good, but in a duel there is no time to rest! _'tarrantallegra'_

Instinctively he tried to apparate again but he had been caught by surprise and his apparition ended up completely wrong.

'Don't worry, it just takes practice' Dumbledore tried to reassure him. 

'Right, I'm ready.'

_'tarrantallegra'_

Harry disappeared and then reappeared behind the Headmaster, who quickly turned and cast another spell at him. This time he was not caught off guard and managed to apparate again.

'Very good! Now let's speed things up again; I will keep trying to hit you, and every time you successfully dodge it I will try just a little harder.'

They spent two hours practicing the same thing over and over, at the end of which Harry felt exhausted and dizzy. He had progressed remarkably though, he could now displace himself almost instantly, and with more practice he felt sure he could improve further. After they had taken the portkey back to Hogwarts, Harry sat in the Headmaster's office and Dumbledore offered him a cup of tea as he rested. 

'So tell me Harry' he said, 'are there things about Voldemort that still intimidate you?'

Harry was puzzled by this question. Did he feel intimidated by the most evil dark wizard off all time? 

'I will assume your silence means yes, but please humor me. What exactly about Voldemort intimidates you?'

' I … I don't know see how I can possible beat him.'

'Why Harry? Why can't you beat him?' Dumbledore insisted

'He's … so powerful, and he knows more about magic than anyone except perhaps you.'

'It is true that he knows a lot about magic, but I do not think that all the knowledge in the world will stop you from beating him'

'What about his magical power?'

'You do not think you are powerful too?'

'Not like him!'

Dumbledore nodded, but continued.

 'I think you are looking at things from the wrong perspective Harry. Voldemort's strength comes from his lack of emotion. His lack of compassion and caring allow him to be utterly ruthless; he will let nothing stand in the way of his goals, and that is his greatest strength.'

'So he will use my friends and compassion as a weapon against me' Harry said.

'Your strength lies in them Harry; they have given you great power in the past and will continue to do so. You threw off Voldemort's control at the ministry last year with nothing but your emotions.'

'So my greatest weakness is my greatest strength as well - ' 

'- And Voldemort's strength is also his weakness.' Dumbledore nodded.

It all clicked, like the paradox that made perfect sense, Harry's mind was putting it all together.

'So how can I use my strength to defeat Voldemort?'

'That is something you will have to discover yourself Harry, for I do not have the answer.'

Harry nodded, and for the first time in his life he felt less intimidated by the power of the dark lord. 

* * *


	10. Neville's Woes

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Chapter 10 – Neville's Woes

* * *

Harry looked up from the book and rubbed his eyes; after reading for so long the letters were starting to become blurred and none of it seemed to be entering his mind anymore. He opened the window and poked his head out into the cold night air, taking deep breaths to try and refresh himself. Ever since the holidays had ended and school had resumed, the solitude from last summer had returned, albeit in a subdued form. Cho was the one person who could make him forget it all, but since she was in her final year and had upcoming NEWTs, she was unable to spend as much time with him as before. He had grudgingly accepted that she had to work harder and improve her grades, but that didn't stop him from feeling lonely without her. Ron and Hermione kept inviting him along with them, but since they couldn't keep their hands of each other it would only make him feel awkward. On top of that there had been a nagging voice in the back of his head reminding him of the inevitable task ahead. Being with Cho had dissolved all his motivation, but now that he was alone again for most of the week his angst had reappeared. He found himself thinking about Sirius again, and the only way not to despair was to bury himself in reading. He missed his godfather, more than words could have ever described. 

_Focus!_ his anger yelled inside his mind. He had relentlessly pushed himself the entire month of January, having finished the book from the library and speeding his way through the biography of the all-time best duelers. 

One of the more interesting parts so far had been the biography of Filius Flitwick. Harry had heard that he'd once been a dueling champion when he was younger, but he had no idea that his charms teacher had been the last winner ever before the tournament was officially stopped. He felt a new sense of awe for the emotional little man who always stood on a pile of books to see over his desk. 

His classes these days were still incredibly easy. Not only did he already know all the material for every single course, but he always did his homework right after every class. The spare time he had coupled with the incentive of impending doom made for a lot of highly motivated studying time. 

Dumbledore's private lessons were always a highlight of the week. Those few hours under the careful tutelage of the greatest wizard of this age surpassed anything he learnt spending a whole month with his nose in books. He realized it was unfair to the other students, but he wished he could just study all day under the Headmaster. 

The only other thing he would do besides going to class and studying was quidditch practice. It helped him release the tension of those long hours when he was on his broom, and it kept his reflexes in shape too. 

By early February he finished the book that Lupin had given him, and he decided to use his newly acquired privilege to go and browse through the restricted section. It was obvious Madam Pince was extremely displeased that he had the freedom to take whatever he wanted, but there was nothing she could do to stop him. The fact that Dumbledore trusted him was a source of great pride.

He browsed through the shelves for anything related to dueling that might help him, and found an interesting book in the transfiguration section. 

_The use of conjured items in duels_ by Alberta Toothill

He opened it up and examined its contents.

_…It is often prudent to conjure animals to your defense so that they may serve either as distractions or directly involve themselves in your duel…_

Voldemort had used a snake to attack he thought to himself, and it had been very effective. Pleased with his find he grabbed the book and left for his room, much to the chagrin of Madam Pince who glared after him. 

He arrived at his favorite study spot only to find Neville sitting there by the window and staring out into the grounds.

'Hi Neville.'

'Harry … how … how are you?' 

Neville's face was filled with misery, but he was trying to conceal it and feigned a smile. 

'Everything ok Neville?'

'Oh yes, fine' he said in a very unconvincing tone.

'You don't sound ok Neville' he said kindly, 'mind if I sit down?'

Neville nodded, and Harry sat down next to him. He suddenly felt guilty about neglecting Neville so much this year. He really liked Neville, and felt sorry that his grandmother was always putting him down. He had shown that he had talent last year at the DA, and he had always been a loyal friend, it was just a matter of confidence.

'I think I understand how you feel Neville …'

Neville turned his head at Harry and looked at him with sad eyes, then turned away again.

'My parents don't even remember me Harry, they haven't in ten years.'

'I know. And I know how it feels that the person who did it to them is free again. I lost both my parents and Sirius, and the people who did it are still roaming free.'

'There's one difference' he said miserably, 'You can avenge them, you have the talent. Me, I'm almost a squib. That's what really makes me angry you know, that there's nothing I can do about it.'

'What?!' Harry exclaimed, 'that's ridiculous. I was there at the ministry Neville, you were just as good as anyone else!'

'I wish the DA still existed. I'll never be as good as the people who tortured my parents, but when I was in the DA I felt like I was doing something at least.'

Harry knew how he felt. He had buried himself in work after Sirius' death; it made him despair less when he was working towards a goal, towards vengeance…'

'Then let's start it up again Neville.'

'Are you serious? I mean, you're really busy with that good-looking girl and everything.'

'I'll make the time Neville, don't worry. We're not so different, you and I. We have to stick together.'

For the first time in their conversation there was a glimmer of hope in Neville's eyes, and he looked at Harry thankfully.

'Let's just keep it between the two of us for now, maybe we can start this Wednesday. I've got to go now Neville, see you later.

Neville seemed to be a lot happier after, but as he walked away he couldn't help feeling bad for him.

On the first Tuesday of February he walked to Dumbledore's office for his usual weekly lesson with a sense of anticipation. They had finished practicing apparation during duels last week, and he could now displace himself almost at will. 

'Hello Harry, please come in and sit down. I will be done in just a moment and then we can begin our lesson.'

Harry sat quietly and looked around the room while Dumbledore scribbled away with his quill, and saw the sorting hat looking at him again.

'May I sir?' he asked

Dumbledore looked up and then smiled and nodded.

'Of course.'

He took the hat and placed it on his head.

'Yes, everything is still there. Bravery, ambition, and you still have a keen mind. No surprises there, people's minds don't really change you know; only their choices do.'

'Do you still think I could have gone into Slytherin?'

'You could have been great in any house with your mind, but you chose the path of righteousness. Though your house will greatly influence the rest of your life, it's never too late to change your choices.'

'Would I have been more powerful in Slytherin?' he asked slowly

'Slytherin may have sped your growth up, or it may not have; it's hard to say. You'll awaken your true potential sooner or later.'

'…My true potential …?' he asked with a shocked tone.

 'It's all there, just waiting to be discovered. When the time is right, I'm sure you'll tap into it.'

'Shall we begin our lesson now Harry?'

'Oh - of course sir.'

He took off the hat and put it back on the shelf, feeling more confused now than ever before. 

'Today we will not need to take a portkey; Professor Binns' classroom should be large enough for our purposes. Follow me please.'

He followed Dumbledore down the stairs and through the corridor to his old history of magic classroom. 

'Now Harry, I'm sure you have realized that different wizards have different amounts of magical power.'

'Right - at the ministry, when you sent a spell at Voldemort, it felt so powerful that all my hair stood on end.'

Dumbledore nodded

'And when you cast a patronus, it is harder and harder to drive off more of them. The patronus you cast in your third year must have been very powerful indeed to drive of so many dementors.'

'But … I was just thinking of a particularly happy thought at the time …'

'Exactly, remember what I said about your emotions? You must learn to use them in your spells; they are your greatest ally. Why don't we try the patronus charm, it would be perfect as a demonstration. Please cast your patronus now.'

Harry tried to recall a happy memory; and focused on that day by the lake with Cho as he said the spell. The silver stag shot out of his wand and flew around the room. 

'Very good, a remarkable achievement, and the key to casting that spell was to put your happiness behind it. It is no different with many other spells; you just need to apply the appropriate emotion to be more effective.'

'How do I know what emotion I should focus on for a spell?'

'It is usually quite logical which one to use. Many curses require anger for example, while many charms require more positive emotions, but this is just a general rule of thumb. You will have to relearn many spells, and get used to putting your emotional strength into it as you do with the patronus. With much practice it will eventually be second nature to you. Now why don't we start off with a simple stunning spell?'

Harry spent hours that day trying to do as Dumbledore said, but try as he might he could not make any progress. It frustrated him to no end that he was unable to figure out the key to pouring his emotions into his spells, and by the end he was losing focus and Dumbledore called the evening to a halt.

'Perhaps the time simply hasn't come yet Harry; we'll hold off on this and learn something new next week.'

He fell asleep that night into terrible nightmares of all his friends being murdered because he was too weak to stop it, and woke up the next morning feeling utterly lousy.

* * *


	11. The New DA

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Chapter 11 – The New DA

* * *

His transfiguration class had been simply awful. The lingering nightmare from last night had put him in a bad mood, and as a result he had been restless the whole morning. He decided to skip lunch with the others and headed straight for the library for some peace and quiet. He rounded the corner and saw Luna there looking around for something, with a small first year Slytherin boy mocking her.

'Hey Loony, did you find all your stuff yet?'

She frowned at him but seemed uninterested in responding.

'Loony Luna, did you know they call you that?' he grinned at her.

'HEY YOU!' Harry yelled at the kid as he quickly walked over to them.

'Do you know who I am?' He said menacingly to the first year

'Y-y-yes' he stammered

'And did you know Luna is my friend?' He snarled.

The first year's eyes were wide open with fear now.

'Oh … I didn't … sorry, err…'

'I don't _like_ people _insulting _my friends' he articulated very slowly, lowering his head so he was eye to eye with the little brat.

'I ... I didn't know … I'll never annoy her again… I promise' he stuttered and ran off.

He turned around and grinned at Luna, who had a surprised look on her face. 

'You didn't have to do that you know; I've learned to ignore them.'

'What are friends for?'

She looked at him curiously and then smiled.

'Well I'd better get to my class, see you Harry.'

He watched her go and felt a twinge of sympathy for her. He knew what it was like to have people tease you all the time because you were different. After all, he had grown up with Dudley.

'Hey Luna, wait. Do you want to join me and Neville tonight? We're thinking of starting up the DA again.'

She turned around and looked at him curiously, as if she was surprised by the invitation.

'Oh, that sounds good; I really enjoyed the DA last year.'

'Same place as last year then – seven pm. See you there?'

'Ok see you there' she smiled airily and walked off.

He arrived early at the room of requirement, and saw that it was filled with thick pillows around the walls this time – perfect for dueling or practicing spells. He had thought about inviting some others – Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Cho – but he really wanted to focus on his own development too instead of spending all this time just teaching others. Besides, this was a favor for Neville and Luna; he felt a bond with them and wanted to show them he thought of them as friends.

'Hi Harry!' the excited voice of Neville said behind him.

'Hey Neville, brings back memories doesn't it? Being in here I mean.'

'Yeah, I've been looking forward to this all day. So what are you going to teach me?'

'Well I invited Luna Lovegood along too, so we'll wait for her before we begin, but I thought we might just practice dueling.'

'Sounds great! I've been practicing a lot you know, I've gotten a little better since last year.'

'Hello' a dreamy voice said from the doorway.

'Hi Luna, come on in. We were just waiting for you.'

She came in and smiled at both of them, with her usual unblinking stare.

'Right' Harry said, 'Well let's get started. I thought we might practice some dueling today. How would you two like to have a go against me?'

'Err are you nuts Harry? You'd slaughter us …'

'No I won't, you see I'll just be blocking your attacks. That way you can get better at attacking and I can get better at blocking.'

'Oh … oh all right' and Neville seemed to grow less afraid and took out his wand.

He spent the next ten minutes dodging and blocking their attacks, until finally Luna managed to hit him with a disarming spell and he was knocked into a pillow. 

'Where did you learn all those blocking spells Harry?' an impressed Neville asked

'You're not the only one who's been practicing' he said with a touch of pride

'Well this is good practice, my aim is definitely improving' Luna added.

'Then let's keep going' he said as he retrieved his wand and pointed it at them. Neville seemed filled with confidence now and resumed his attack. 

They spent the next hour shooting spells at Harry, who dodged and blocked until finally, out of breath and exhausted he called it to a halt. Neville's aim was still lousy by any standard, but his confidence seemed to be improving as he had managed to hit Harry a few times. Luna 

'Same time next week?' he asked them.

'You bet' Neville said happily.

'See you then' Luna replied.

He collapsed into a deep sleep that night, tired from the long lesson and the excitement. 

_'Have you made the arrangements Bella?' the cold voice said_

_'Yes Master, everything is in place.' _

_'I hope so for your sake, I will not suffer another disappointment.'_

_'Yes Master, forgive me master –'she sobbed_

_'Leave me. And send in Wormtail, I wish to discuss the plan with him.'_

But Harry never found out what the plan was; at that moment he woke up with his scar prickling painfully and his mind racing. Voldemort was planning something, he had to warn Dumbledore! He threw on his robes and ran to the Headmaster's office as fast as he could.

'Harry! What's wrong?'

'I had a dream sir, you know, like the one I had –'

'I understand, please continue.'

He told Dumbledore everything he remembered, down to the last detail, and when he had finished Dumbledore remained silent.

'Do you know what he's planning sir?'

'I can take an educated guess, but I do not wish you to concern yourself with this Harry. Please try and get some rest, I will inform the ministry of your dream right away.'

'Right. Goodnight sir.'

'Goodnight.'

He walked back wondering what the dream was about. What could Voldemort be planning? Perhaps trying to free his deatheaters? But that would take an army; they were being guarded by aurors now that the dementors had joined the dark side. 

Feeling puzzled he said the password and the fat lady let him back into the Gryffindor tower. He had thought everyone would be in bed by now, but he was startled to find Ron and Hermione sitting by the fire.

'So, care to explain yourself?' Hermione said with her eyebrows raised

'Explain what?' he was irritated enough, he didn't feel like being interrogated by his friends now.

'Explain where you've been going for the past six months, you're gone several nights a week these days.'

'I don't see how it's any of your business' he snapped.

'Oh yeah, I forgot.' Ron said in a sarcastic tone, 'it's not like we're your best friends or anything.'

'We're just worried about you Harry, and we feel left out.'

He calmed himself down and sat down across from them. 

'I've been doing several things ok. I can't tell you about the first, I promised not to.'

Ron seemed offended by this, but Hermione elbowed him and he didn't say anything.

'But I've also been thinking about starting up the DA again. I met Luna and Neville tonight and we had a practice dueling session.'

'Without us?' Ron blurted out

'Well look, it was more of a spur of the moment thing.' 

He felt guilty now about not inviting them, and was staring at his feet as he spoke to them.

'Well I think it's a brilliant idea to start up the DA again, and I can understand that you don't want to invite everyone from last year, but honestly – we're your friends!' Hermione said with indignation.

'Look I'm sorry, of course you guys are invited. We're having another meeting next week, same place at seven pm.'

'Now you're talking' Ron grinned.

'Should I invite anyone else?' Hermione asked him.

'Well I'd like to keep it smaller this time, but of course Ginny, Dean, and Seamus are welcome. And I'll invite Cho, but I think that's enough people. I don't really feel like teaching, I want to learn new stuff myself, not spend all my time helping others.'

'We understand Harry' Hermione said considerately, 'and we'll try to keep it a secret from the others.'

'Smashing, I can't wait.' Ron grinned.

He sat and talked to them by the fire for a while and enjoyed their company. Spending time with Cho was different from spending time with them, and he realized he had missed their company.

'Harry!'

He had just walked out of his DADA class when Cho's voice called to him from down the corridor.

'Hey, everything ok?' he asked as she kissed him

'Oh yes, but I wanted to remind you that's this Saturday is Valentine's Day, and there's a Hogsmeade trip.'

'Oh, right, do you have the time to spare?'

'Don't be silly, of course I do! I know I've been neglecting you a bit – 'she said with an expression of guilt on her face, '- but we have to spend Valentine's Day together! I'll make sure I have the whole day free.'

She leaned in closer and whispered in his ear.

_'I really am_ _sorry for being so busy, I promise I'll make it up to you this weekend with a surprise.'_

And then she kissed his cheek and with a smile ran to her next class.

She certainly knows how to occupy my mind he thought to himself, and went to the library wondering about the surprise. 

* * *


	12. The Secret Guardians

* * *

  


Chapter 12 – The Secret Guardians

* * *

'So where are we going?'

'For the last time, it's a surprise' she smiled as she held his hand and led him around the lake. 

The sun was shining from a clear blue sky, evaporating the dew on the grass and warming the cold air.  The first day of spring had come early this year, and it was warm enough to go outside in summer clothes. 

'We're almost there' she grinned at him.

They were following a rough path now, probably trodden by past students who had walked this way. As they approached the opposite side of the lake she slowed down and began searching for something. He had never been here before, and by the amount of weeds growing over the path he guessed that few had. 

'There it is!'

He looked to where she was pulling him to, and saw a patch of grass with some type of basket and a blanket inside a clearing.

'It's a picnic basket, I asked Dobby to make it for us and bring it here.'

'Great' he grinned.

They sat down on the blanket and she opened the basket; to her delight it was filled with the best cold food the kitchens offered.

'Sandwiches, pastries, oh, and butterbeer! Dobby really went all out; I owe him another pair of socks. Are you hungry yet?'

'Not yet …' he replied as he pulled her closer and kissed her.

'Oh?' she said with a smile, 'need to work up an appetite Mr. Potter?'

'I've missed you; you make me forget everything when I'm with you.'

The time seemed to pass them by so quickly as they lay together by the lake, her head on his chest and her arm around him. He had his arm around her shoulders, and they lay there in silence with the sun shining down on them.

'I thought we might go to Hogsmeade in the afternoon, unless you plan on lying here all day.'

'I'd love to go, but I'm afraid my arms are stuck. I can't seem to let you go.' He said with mock regret.

'Oh really? Well let me help you!' and she tickled the side of his stomach forcing him to jump up.

'Hey! No fair, I wasn't expecting that.'

'Well I got your arms unstuck didn't I?' 

'But I don't want to go yet, oh look! They're stuck again.'

He pulled her next to him on the grass and their lips touched, and they lay there for hours without a care in world. 

'Right, well thanks for coming everyone.'

He surveyed them all, their eager expressions looking up at him. Hermione, Ron, Cho, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Seamus, and Dean – his real friends – would be the new DA. If things got tough, could he really count on people like Michael corner or Terry Boot to fight with him? These were the people he wanted to teach, to form his own order with. 

'I – yes what is it Hermione? You don't have to put your hand up, I'm not a ruddy teacher.'

'Well I've been talking to all the others, and we've come to some conclusions.'

'You have? What on earth about?' 

'We've figured out that you and V- Voldemort' and she paused briefly as she forced herself to say the name, 'are somehow connected. You're going to have to fight him.'

'I – what – how did you figure that out?'

'I'm not just good looks you know' she grinned at him, 'it's just an educated guess. It seems fate always brings you two together, so you must play a big part in his defeat.'

Harry frowned; sometimes Hermione was too clever for her own good. 

'So' she continued, 'we decided that you would need your own order, and we as your friends promise to stand by you in this war.'

He looked at her in disbelief, his mind trying to comprehend what she had just said.

'But look, it's … it's dangerous!' he managed to stammer

'All the more reason you'll need allies you can count on and trust.' Cho said

'And besides, it's been awfully dull around here without Umbridge. I'd rather die at the hands of a deatheater than from boredom.' Ron grinned at him. 

'And you know why I'm here.' Neville said and managed a weak smile.

'We're not taking no for an answer!' Ginny added

Harry rested his head in his hands and clenched his teeth. Sometimes they could be incredibly annoying, he thought as he let out a sigh.

'FINE' he snapped and looked up, 'it seems you persistent gits have obviously planned this all out without me, so there's no point arguing.'

'Glad you see it from our point of view' Ron grinned at him.

'I think we'll need a new name though, we're Harry's army now, not Dumbledore's army' Ginny said thoughtfully.

'The H.A.? No, nevermind, that sounds stupid.'

'Well we're going to be a secret order right?' Hermione said

'And we're dedicated to protecting Harry' Ginny nodded

'The secret society dedicated to protecting Harry Potter?' Hermione thought aloud

'Could you possibly make it any longer?' Ron said sarcastically

'How about the secret guardians of the stag?' Cho asked.

'Hey that's better, I like it!' 

'What do you think Harry?'

Harry was still silent. He looked around at his new alliance, and realized he couldn't have asked for a better or more loyal group of friends.

'I think it's brilliant. Thank you.' He smiled.

'Right' Ron said, as he surveyed his team, 'Does everybody remember our game plan?'

They all remained silent. By now they had gone over it so many times that they were thoroughly sick of him repeating it. 

'We're going to open with the hawkshead attacking formation, while our beaters –'

'_We know_' Seamus and Dean said exasperatedly.

'And Harry, you must not catch the snitch until we've built up a good lead. Just stop their seeker from getting it until we're up by at least a hundred points ok?'

'I think I heard you mention that, like, a dozen times already' he grinned

'I'm just making sure. Alright, everyone ready?' 

They all joined hands in the center of the circle and yelled _Gryffindor_!

_And here comes the Gryffindor team now!  _The announcer's voice boomed. _Led onto the field by their Captain Ron Weasley, they are the defending champions two years in a row now!_

There were loud boos from the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs as they ran on the field, but it was easily drowned out by the Gryffindor cheering. Some of the Ravenclaws were cheering too, and he smiled as he realized Cho must have persuaded them to back Gryffindor.

_And here come the Hufflepuff team. They're considered the underdog in this game, but after the strong match they had against Slytherin I don't think anyone is going to underestimate them!_

The Hufflepuffs cheered loudly as their team made its way to the starting position wearing their canary-yellow house robes. The captains shook hands and they all mounted their brooms as Madam Hooch reminded them the rules. 

_And there goes the whistle! Gryffindor gains possession of the Quaffle and begin their attack._

Harry immediately flew high above the field and began watching for the snitch. He knew he was a far better seeker than Zacharias Smith, but he wasn't used to playing a more defensive style.

_'And here comes Ginny, the Gryffindor chaser, with the quaffle. She dives, oh what a move! 10-0 Gryffindor! Now Hufflepuff are back in possession, but they quickly lose the quaffle as a Gryffindor beater sent a bludger to his head. Intercepted by Fiona! She passes backwards to Ginny, and Ginny scores again! She's got talent that one! 20-0 for Gryffindor.'_

Harry saw something glittering on the left side of the field, and he immediately dropped into a dive and sped to the opposite side. It worked; Zacharias followed Harry instead thinking he had seen the snitch. He never even looked at the other side of the field where the snitch really was.

_And there go the two seekers, Harry on his firebolt leading the way. But wait, he's pulling up and has stopped. Has he lost the snitch? Or was he simply faking it? Oh and it seems the Gryffindor seeker has distracted the Hufflepuff beaters, leaving their defense wide open! 30-0 Gryffindor!_

Zacharias was staring at him furiously. The snitch had disappeared again, and his distraction had completely diverted the Hufflepuff beaters. They both started searching for the snitch again, but Harry was watching Zacharias from the corner of his eye. The crowd started cheering again. 40-0! They were trampling all over the Hufflepuff team, and all he had to do was block for ten more minutes so they could build up a sizeable lead. At that moment they both saw that something glittering on the opposite side of the field, and simultaneously flew there as fast as they could. 

_And there go the seekers again, neck in neck as they speed across the field. The firebolt is giving Harry an advantage, and he's now in the lead! But wait, he's made a sharp turn, and he's blocked the Hufflepuff seeker! It seems Gryffindor want to build up their lead before they win this game. Oh and they've scored again! It's now 50 – 0! _

There were loud boos from the Hufflepuff area, and Zacharias look livid now. They had built a sizeable lead, but he noticed the Gryffindor team was starting to look tired. A few more points and he would start seeking instead of blocking. 

_And here comes the Hufflepuff team on the attack using the classic arrowhead formation. They get past the beaters and score! 50-10! The lead has been reduced slightly, and this might be the sign of some new life for Hufflepuff. Gryffindor immediately goes on the attack again, zigzagging across the field to confuse the opposing defense. They shoot but what a save! Ginny Weasley recovers the quaffle and shoots again! 60-10! Hufflepuff will have to do a better job rebounding than that!_

He saw Zacharias was losing focus, the big score differential along with Harry's diversionary tactics had thrown him off his game. Harry smiled to himself; it would be easy to beat him now. He started flying around the pitch to distract the other seeker further while he scanned around for the golden snitch.

_And Gryffindor score again! It's now 70-10. Hufflepuff had better hope they catch the snitch or this game will be a blowout! And here they come with the quaffle, and they shoot. Rather an easy shot to stop for the Gryffindor keeper, who is really on top of his game today. And Gryffindor go on the attack again! Fiona passes to Ginny, who dodges a bludger and passes it back. _

There it was. This was too good a chance to pass up; they were only up by 60 points instead of the 100 Ron had said, but there was simply no way he couldn't catch the snitch. Zacharias was on the other side of the pitch, and would never be able to catch up to him. He dived towards the ground to gain speed and then pulled up and zoomed full speed towards the snitch. 

_And there goes the Gryffindor seeker, look at how fast he's going! There's no way the Hufflepuff seeker can ever catch him from that far away, so Harry simply has to catch up to it to win the game. But what's this? He seems to be swerving around? _

His scar exploded. He couldn't see or hear anything anymore; the pain was simply blinding all his other senses. Both his hands clasped his head and he instinctively tried to focus on his occlumency. It was excruciating, but he forced himself to focus on blocking his mind. And then the pain subsided, and he could see again. He had fallen of his broom and was hurtling towards the ground. Instinctively he grasped for his wand in his pocket, but it was no good, there wasn't enough time. The last thing he remembered was putting up his hands protectively as he fell headfirst towards the ground.

* * *


	13. The War Starts

* * *

  


Chapter 13 – The War Starts

* * *

He opened his eyes, but all he could see was a blinding bright light. Slowly the room swam into focus and he realized he was in the hospital wing. A sharp bursting pain ran through his head, instinctively making him reach for it with his hand. Bandages. There were thick bandages on his arms, and suddenly he remembered why he was here. He had fallen off his broom, during the quidditch match, when his scar had exploded with pain. There was a sharp pain from his left arm as he tried to sit up, making him grimace and fall back down.  He realized the fall must have broken both his arms as well as hurt his head, and they were not fully healed yet. 

'Oh you're awake are you?'

Madam Pompfrey had walked in with the usual annoyed look on her face, as if he had somehow purposely hurt himself.

'Perhaps you should just move your things in here, since you can't seem to stay uninjured!'

'What happened?' he groaned.

'You have a concussion from your fall, for which you will have to take special potions for a few days. Both your arms were broken too, and although I've fixed them you'll have to keep the bandages on for a week.'

'But I'll be ok?'

'Yes Mr. Potter, I'm sure you'll be back to your usual reckless self in a few days.'

He tried to smile at her but the pain burst through his head again, making him close his eyes and clench his teeth.

'I'll get you a pain relieving potion' she said with a now sympathetic tone, and came right back with a small flask. 'Drink, it will make you feel better.'

He forced the foul-smelling liquid down his throat, and slowly his headache began to subside. He still felt slightly dizzy and imbalanced, but at least he could think properly now. 

'Thank you, I feel better now. How long have I been here?'

'You fell yesterday, and it's early afternoon right now. The headmaster wanted to speak to you as soon as you regained consciousness, so I'll go and fetch him. Don't you dare try to get out of bed!'

Staring at the ceiling after she had left, he thought about what had transpired. Voldemort had been angry about something, so angry that it had made his scar explode with pain. He remembered the game too, and that they had lost. Zacharias wasn't a great seeker but even he could catch it with no competition. He felt frustrated again; their chances of winning three years in a row were now slim. 

'Ah Harry, how are you feeling?'

Dumbledore had walked in and stood in front of the bed with a fatherly expression

'Smashing sir' he replied sarcastically

'I know you are not happy about being injured, or about losing the game, but would you like me to tell you why your scar hurt?'

The shock of this question made him sit up, despite the pain he felt from his arms.

'Yes, I … Voldemort was furious about something …'

'I know. Sit back and I will explain everything to you.'

Dumbledore waited until he had rested his back against the pillow, before telling Harry everything what had happened.

'When you told me of your dream last week, that Voldemort was planning something, I had suspicions that he might try and free his captured deatheaters. I immediately alerted the ministry and they secretly assigned extra security - Everything they could spare in fact. My assumption was right; Voldemort did indeed try to break his deatheaters out but unfortunately for him we were prepared. Usually the prison is guarded by a dozen members of the magical enforcement squad and two dozen security trolls, but after your dream the ministry assigned every auror it could spare as well as extra trolls and magical enforcement squad members. 

'- So he was stopped?'

'I'm afraid not. A fierce battle ensued between Voldemort's army and the prison security. The attacking force consisted of over a hundred dementors, several giants, and every death eater who was still free. It was still a formidable army even when going up against all the extra security in place. In the ensuing battle two aurors and five deatheaters were killed, as well as many trolls, dementors, and giants. 

'A … anyone I know? Anyone from the order?'

'No one from the order was killed; though several were injured. I believe Kingsley Shacklebolt is currently at St.Mungo's making a full recovery.'

Harry felt awful. Two aurors had been killed, men with families and people who cared about them. Dumbledore seemed to read him mind and continued talking.

'Your dream saved many lives and resulted in the death of five deatheaters Harry. If you hadn't informed me, all the prison guards would have been killed and all the deatheaters would walk free again. 

He knew Dumbledore was right; there was nothing else he could have done. 

'Now if I'm not mistaken, there is an attractive young lady waiting to see you. I won't delay her any longer, and I will see you at our next lesson. Good afternoon Harry, I wish you a speedy recovery.'

He smiled and walked out of the door, and a second later Cho came running in.

'Harry! Oh I was so worried about you!'

He saw that she was crying now, and he didn't know what to say.

'I'm fine, really, you don't need to cry.'

'Fine? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? 

'Well ok, I did get a little bump on my head –'

She looked at him incredulously with her mouth open.

'- but at least I didn't lose my sense of humor'

'This is not funny! I was really worried about you.'

'I'm fine, you don't need to worry. In a few days I'll be up and about again.'

'Well, is there anything I can do for you? Shall I ask Dobby to bring you some food?'

'Nah it's ok, the potions taste really nasty and have left me without an appetite.'

At that moment the rest of his friends came rushing in, causing Madam Pompfrey to cast them a furious look.

'We came as soon as we heard you were awake!'

'Are you ok Harry? How long are you stuck here?'

'Yeah I'll be fine, just a few more days in here. I guess … I guess we lost the match?'

They all looked down at their feet at the reminder of the match, and he could only assume the worst.

'When you fell, we tried to make the best of the rest of the game. But without a seeker, it was pretty brutal' Ron said.

'What was the final score?' he groaned

'They won 170 to 110. We really should have won 220-10, you were sure to get that snitch if you hadn't… you know'

'Yeah, believe me; I'm not happy about it. Just my rotten luck.'

'Well if Ravenclaw beats Slytherin in their game next week, we still have a very good chance!'

 'Ravenclaw will win, don't worry about that.' Cho grinned

'Anything we can do to help?' Ron asked, 'Maybe curse Malfoy? It would be my pleasure you know.'

'I know we can beat them as long as I catch the snitch. His nimbus 2001 is a lot faster than my cleansweep seven, but I still think I'm better than him.'

'Well then I know how I can help you' Harry said, 'I'll lend you my firebolt for that game.'

Hermione seemed to be the only one who wasn't shocked.

'Harry? But … but it's your firebolt.' Ron blurted out

'I can't borrow that! What if I damage it?' Cho asked.

'Look it's not a religious object or anything; it's just a broom. And if you break it, then so be it. This is best for both our teams, don't you see?'

'Well it's your broom Harry … and it would help us a lot if Ravenclaw wins' Ron said carefully.

'But I can't borrow it, it's too valuable!'

'I insist, don't you want to win as badly as we do?'

'Well yes, and I do want to beat that slimy git Malfoy …' she said thoughtfully, 'and with a firebolt I'm sure I can …'

'Then it's settled. You'll use my firebolt for your match against Slytherin, and that should give us both a fighting chance in our final games.'

'Alright, thanks Harry!' she grinned at him, 'I'd better go now, I'm supposed to be at practice soon. I'll drop by again tomorrow.'

She kissed him on the lips and gave him a hug, and left looking extremely happy. 

The rest of his friends talked with him for a while about various things, keeping him company for the rest of the evening. Ron asked if he could bring anything, so he asked him to fetch the book hidden under his pillow, and told him to give Cho his firebolt. Due to his injuries he couldn't practice this week anyways, so he might as well let her get used to it. Its speed and agility could be a little hard to control at first, and he really wanted her to win. He secretly thought that he wouldn't mind so much if Ravenclaw won the cup instead of Gryffindor. He knew how much she wanted to win the cup at least once and it was her last year at Gryffindor. 

'Everyone out! He needs to take his potions and sleep now!' Madam Pompfrey yelled and she chased them all out of the hospital wing. 

The potion immediately made him drowsy and he fell into a deep sleep that night.

_'Your incompetence in this simple task has cost us dearly Wormtail' the cold voice said angrily _

_'Master, I knew not!'_

_'Of course you didn't. You're too worthless and cowardly to ever lie to me or disobey me Wormtail.'_

_'Master, I was loyal. I helped you get your body back!' he sobbed._

_'Yes you did, and because of that I won't kill you, worthless though you are.'_

_'Thank you master, thank you' he sobbed_

_'But you know you deserve this punishment don't you?' he said with a cold, high, mirthless laugh._

_'Master, I beg of you …'_

_'Crucio'_

_The man shrieked and convulsed on the ground, writhing from the intense pain._

He woke up in sweat, his scar stinging with pain again. Another dream, but this one didn't seem to be as important. Deciding it could wait until morning he tried to fall back asleep, his thoughts eventually giving way to exhaustion.

Madam Pompfrey confined him to the hospital wing bed for another two days, and even after that she banned him from quidditch for an additional two weeks. Still, he couldn't complain. The Daily prophet had run a story of the prison battle with its usual flair for exaggeration, but at least the article had made him look good for once. On top of that Ravenclaw had absolutely trampled Slytherin, with a final score of 220-40. Everyone knew Ravenclaw had the best chasers and beaters, but nobody had expected Cho to show up with a firebolt. Malfoy's face when she outmaneuvered him at every turn, blocking and eventually catching the snitch, was priceless. 

Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were now tied in points, and the team that won by the most points in their last match would take the cup. They had as good a chance to win as any other team. It had turned out to be a fairly good week after all, he thought to himself as he walked to Dumbledore's office. 

'Ah Harry, come in please.'

'Good evening sir' he said politely.

'I trust you are fully recovered? Nevertheless, we will take it easy today. You may put your wand away.'

'Oh.' 

This was certainly strange. He had never had a non-practical lesson from the Headmaster before, and he started to feel slightly disappointed. 

'Tell me Harry; were you ever able to do things when you were young that you couldn't explain?'

'You mean magic?'

Dumbledore nodded at him.

'Well I think I apparated once. My cousin and his friends were bullying me and I somehow ended up on top of the school chimney.'

'Yes, like that. And I'm sure there were other events like that too?'

'I also let a snake out of the zoo once, I got really angry and somehow a hole appeared in the glass and my cousin fell through it.'

Dumbledore's eye twinkled and he smiled. 

'But I'm not the only one who does that right? I heard Neville did some wandless magic once when his uncle dropped him out of the window.'

'You are quite right Harry. You see wizards and witches have the ability to channel magic through themselves. A wand simply focuses the magic into the form you want. Sometimes as a result of desperation or instinct one can do things without a wand, as you have mentioned. Of course, even the most powerful wizards in the world cannot do more than the most basic spells without a wand –'

'-but it's possible? He said with disbelief

'Indeed it is. Don't expect someone to do any advanced magic without a wand, that's unheard of, but with training you can learn basic charms like summoning perhaps.'

'Can you do any sir?'

Dumbledore smiled again and put his wand away. He then focused hard while staring at the fireplace, and after a moment it erupted with fire.'

'Amazing …'

'Thank you, and that is what I would like to teach you today.'

He took out his wand again and pointed it at the fire, putting it out.

'I would like you to focus on the wood; Imagine that it is being lit, try to direct all your intensity at it.'

He did as the headmaster told him; focusing on it with different emotions, but to no avail. Nothing happened, not even a spark appeared between the logs. 

'Do not be troubled, this is very advanced magic. I would have been surprised if you can manage it at all today. Nevertheless, please keep trying. Try to envision the logs becoming hot as you focus on them. Imagine yourself getting hotter and focus that heat on a single point in the fire.

He tried and tried for two hours that night, but nothing happened. For two lessons in a row now, he had been unable to complete the task and felt utterly frustrated. 

The next morning didn't turn out much better. A double potions class was enough to put any Gryffindor in a foul mood, but for Harry it was especially trying. Snape, who had taken to ignoring his existence since their confrontation, was back to his old vindictive self. His stay in hospital meant that he hadn't properly studied his potion, and their potions teacher just couldn't resist the opportunity to criticize him. His potion was of course no worse than any of the Slytherins, but that had never stopped the potions teacher before. 

'Your potion is the wrong color Potter! It's light green; it should be a darker green. I hope you don't expect a passing grade for this?' he smirked

'Perhaps I should ask Goyle to help me sir, oh wait, his potion is _pink_.'

He glared back defiantly at Snape until Hermione stepped on his foot, making him break off the staring contest.

'Nobody likes a tell-tale Potter. Five points from Gryffindor!' he said in a soft and dangerous voice.

Goyle, Crabbe, and Malfoy were sniggering on the other side of the dungeon; they obviously found it highly amusing that Snape had begun tormenting him again. 

He clenched his teeth and started cleaning up while his potion finished brewing. When the class was finally over he stormed out of the dungeon, still fuming at the unfair treatment he received. Hermione caught up with him and tried to calm him down by reminding him why he was in the class. 

'Oh Harry, don't let him get to you. Don't give him the satisfaction!'

'Don't worry; I won't do anything that will get me kicked out. But when I graduate I'm going to get him back – somehow, someway.'

Hermione stayed silent as she walked next to him, she knew better than to try and argue with him when he was this mad.

He had hoped his care of magical creatures class might be better, but with his rotten luck today it wasn't to be. They spent the entire class learning to look after fwoopers – colorful birds that sang songs capable of driving someone to insanity. Though they all had silencing charms cast on them for protection, his fwooper kept trying to bite his finger as he was feeding it. By the end of the class he was sporting several large cuts on his hands that were bleeding profusely. At least the worst of it was over, and it was almost time for the thing he had been looking forward to all day. 

He went to the room of requirement a little early and waited alone for the arrival of the others. Luna came first, and she engaged him excitedly in a conversation about the prison battle. Ginny, Dean, Neville, and Seamus were next, followed right after by Ron and Hermione, and finally Cho. 

He was about to say something, but Hermione beat him to it and called their attention.

'I've been doing some work in the library, and I think I have a good way for us to contact each other when we need to.'

'We could use that, something like those galleons we had last year' Ginny said.

'Well that's what I was working on; only something much more advanced. I thought we might – Oh!'

He turned around to see what everyone else was looking at, and saw Dumbledore and McGonagall standing in the doorway. 

'Professors! Err, can I help you?'

'I assure you we're not here to take your lesson Harry' he smiled, 'but I have to interrupt your meeting for something urgent. We are having an emergency session of the order of the phoenix, and I must ask you to join us immediately.'

'Oh – right.' He glanced around at the others feeling confused.

'Your friends may come too, since this concerns them as well. I will say no more here, but will tell you everything when we arrive at Grimmauld place.'

Still shocked, all of them got up and followed the headmaster to his office where they could take a portkey. It must be something really important, he thought, for the headmaster to invite all of them to an order meeting 

* * *


	14. Constant Vigilance!

* * *

  


Chapter 14 – Constant Vigilance!

* * *

'It's good to see you again' Lupin said warmly as he put his hand on Harry's shoulder. 

'Yeah looking good Harry' a blonde-haired Tonks grinned from behind him.

At the sound of their voices Mrs.Weasley came out of the kitchen and gave Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and himself a big hug.  

'Oh you've all grown so much! I'm sorry you couldn't come for Christmas, but we've all been so busy … well let's all go into the kitchen dears, the others have just arrived.' 

She ushered them all through the door of the kitchen where the entire order sat staring at them, with the notable exception of Snape. Dumbledore introduced Dean, Seamus, Luna, and Cho to the other members of the order, which made them look even more nervous than before, before settling down himself.

'I have summoned this meeting, and invited our young friends along, because I have important news to share with you.'

He paused for a moment, making sure he had everyone's undivided attention before continuing.

'As most of you already know, Voldemort had been planning the escape of his deatheaters for a long time, but thanks to Harry we were able to seriously thwart him.'

He felt embarrassed and tried to avoid their stares, but he thought he saw Tonks wink at him.

'However, most of his deatheaters did escape or perish in the process, leaving him to focus on his next goal. Reliable sources have informed me that all of Voldemort's effort will now be focused on destroying Harry.'

Several people gasped, including most of his friends, and it was Kingsley who eventually spoke first.

'But Dumbledore, that doesn't make sense … Surely he has more important plans than settling a personal grudge?'

'Are you positive about this Albus?' McGonagall asked with a shocked tone, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Dumbledore simply remained calm and continued speaking slowly and clearly. 

'As I said, the sources are reliable, and they all confirm the same thing. Furthermore, if you knew what Harry and I know you would not be so surprised.'

Everyone at the table now stared curiously at Harry, making him feel awkward and look down at his hands on the table. He had been in denial about the burden he carried since last June, too busy enjoying what had been the best few months of his life, but suddenly he was reminded of it and he felt some of his old misery. Dumbledore continued speaking, and to Harry's relief he focused the attention of everyone back on himself.

'Voldemort tried to gain possession of a prophecy last June at the ministry, a prophecy that concerns Harry and himself, but luckily he failed. After it was destroyed the only remaining record of this prophecy existed in the mind of the person it was told to, and that person is none other than myself. 

They were all staring wide-eyed at Dumbledore now, and it was Lupin who first broke the silence.

'Can you tell us the prophecy?'

'Only Harry and I know the full prophecy, and since anyone of you could be captured and tortured, I will not tell you the part that continues to elude him. I can, however, tell you the beginning of the prophecy, which a spy overheard when Sybill Trelawney predicted it to me seventeen years ago. 

'Sybill made the prophecy?' McGonagall snapped with a tone of disbelief.

'Indeed she did, the blood of her ancestor still runs in her, though it has been somewhat diluted' he said with a smile. He paused for a moment to clear his throat, before reciting the first part of the prophecy to them.

_The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches … born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the dark lord will mark him as his equal. _

That is all I can tell you.'

'You're obviously sure the prophecy refers to Harry?' Lupin remarked after he had recovered from his initial shock.

'Yes, there is no doubt that he is the one. Voldemort transferred many of his powers the night he tried to kill Harry, the scar bears testament to that.'

'So we must protect Harry at all costs, he should be the focus of all our efforts too' Lupin said.

Dumbledore simply nodded but remained silent. Many of them were looking at him with renewed awe. McGonagall finally spoke and broke the silence.

'But Albus, shouldn't our efforts should go towards defeating you-know-who?'

'No, our hope lies in Harry. We must protect him until he is ready to face Voldemort.'

'But surely he's safe at Hogwarts?' Diggle asked

'I'm afraid not. During Harry's first year Voldemort was actually at Hogwarts possessing one of the teachers. During his fourth year a deatheater infiltrated our staff and posed as a teacher. Surely you can see that if Voldemort puts his mind to it, we cannot guarantee impenetrable security at Hogwarts'

'Are you saying he should come and stay here?' Mrs.Weasley asked cautiously.

'No, he should remain at Hogwarts. No matter where he hides, we cannot keep him absolutely safe. At Hogwarts he is surrounded by powerful teachers and – ' he paused to look at the rest of his friends with the trademark twinkle, '- his loyal friends.'

'Perhaps I should assign some extra aurors at Hogwarts, in case he attacks with his army.' Kingsley said in his slow calm voice.

'I do not think he will dare try a direct assault as long as I am at Hogwarts, and I would rather not draw attention to the fact that we know of his plans. Our plan should be to actively try and thwart his efforts.'

'Someone has been awfully quiet tonight' Moody growled as he looked at Harry, 'don't you have anything to say Potter?'

Harry returned his stare but remained silent for a moment, reflecting. 

'I think one of my friends should stay with me at all times when I'm not in class. They will attract less attention than an adult watching me.' 

'And we will be' Cho said fiercely, grasping his hand firmly as she spoke. She had been in shock when she heard the prophecy, almost on the verge of tears, but now she showed determination he could not have foreseen. It gave him strength to know that she would risk her life for him, and he spoke with renewed confidence.

'I should also have a way of contacting you in an emergency.'

'We can arrange something' Moody growled, 'but you should be on your guard at all times from now on! Constant vigilance!'

'I think what Moody means' Lupin said with a smile, 'is that perhaps you shouldn't have any late night adventures from now on.'

'And keep your wand with you at all times!' he barked, 'You never know who's trying to ambush you!'

'I think Moody wants you to become as paranoid as he is' Tonks said, trying to break the seriousness. 'Maybe we should get you a magical eye while we're at it…' and she winked at him.

'You know that's not a bad idea' he growled, 'have you considered giving up one of your regular eyes Potter?' 

'Oh err … I think perhaps I'll wait until I really lose one in a battle before I replace it…'

They spent the rest of the meeting going over parts of their strategy and giving Harry advice. When the meeting was finally over he was pulled aside by Lupin who wanted a private word. He had felt so suffocated by all the attention on him that he was glad to follow him into another room.

'How are you Harry? I mean, how are you really?'

'I'm ok, I still miss Sirius sometimes but … I feel a lot better these days.'

'Thanks to a certain attractive young lady?' he smiled.

'Well I suppose' he said awkwardly, wondering where Lupin was going with this conversation.

'Well I just wanted you to know that if you ever wanted to ask me advice on anything, you know, _personal,_ please do.'

Harry looked at him with a puzzled expression.

'I mean, you're a young man now, and, ah, you want to be careful about certain things' he said awkwardly, 'I mean, it helps to talk to an adult about these things sometimes, get a different perspective …'

'Are you giving me the birds and bees talk Remus?' he asked with half astonishment and half laughter.

'Well yes!' Lupin said eagerly, glad that Harry had finally understood. 'I mean I'm not an expert or anything, James or Sirius would have been much better at giving advice, but they're not here and somebody has to, err, point you in the right direction.'

'Right, thanks Remus. You'll be the first person I ask if I have any questions' he said trying to cover up his amusement.

'Great, great, well let's go back to the living room' he said with what seemed like relief.

They stayed for another hour at Grimmauld place, chatting with the rest of the order about everything from dementors to the latest fashion. Cho got along fabulously with Tonks, who was showing her various hair styles using her metamorph abilities. Dean and Seamus were listening in awe to Moody describing how he got one of his scars. He decided to sit down next to Kingsley, who smiled at him and seemed pleased to talk to him.

'Minerva tells me you'd like to be an auror when you graduate Harry, we'd certainly love to have you aboard.'

'Oh thanks, I've been working extra hard in potions this year to make it. I understand nobody has been accepted into the program for several years?'

'That's right, but I imagine that will all change starting this year. We'll be needing more aurors now than ever, and we've already lost two good people in the attack on Azkaban.'

'Do you think I have a good chance of getting in then?'

'Just keep up your good grades and they'll be knocking on your door to try and get you in. Besides, I know at least a dozen important people who would give you personal recommendations for the position, myself included.'

'Thanks' Harry grinned. This was good news to him, and he started asking him about the auror training program.

Finally Dumbledore got up and insisted they go back to the school, and that they not tell anyone where they had been if someone asked. 

His classes the next day were - thankfully - very uneventful. He managed the work in both charms and transfiguration with ease, and he couldn't help noticing that McGonagall was uncharacteristically giving him encouraging smiles. It made him feel uncomfortable but at the same time it was a pleasant change from her usual stiff demeanor. After class he quickly ate dinner and then dragged Hermione to the library with him. She was his official escort for the day, leaving him alone only when he was in the Gryffindor tower or wanted to use a washroom. During the time in between dinner and his lesson from Dumbledore, only a couple of hours, he decided to get some studying done in the library. They settled down into a corner of the library and took out their potions homework. 

'I can't believe Snape gave us three feet of parchment on the properties Jobberknoll feathers, it's going to take us hours to finish!' Hermione said exasperatedly 

'Well he gave it to everyone, so the Slytherin's are no better off than we are.'

'Yeah but still … say Harry, isn't that Marietta over there?'

Harry turned around and saw Cho's friend sitting with a pile of books, engrossed in her studies at the other side of the library. Even though he had been going out with Cho for over four months now, he had never taken the time to try and mend things with her. 

'Should I go and talk to her?'

'Your choice. She might still be peeved about that jinx we did, but then again it would make Cho happy if you two buried the hatchet.'

'Yeah maybe I will, be back in a few minutes then.'

Slowly he approached the table she was sitting at, trying to think of how he could open up dialogue with her. He wasn't exactly eager to befriend her, but Hermione was right; it would mean a lot to Cho. 

'Excuse me Marietta, do you have a moment?'

She looked up and raised her eyebrows in a frown when she saw him, her expression inviting him to keep it brief. 

'Well I know we didn't exactly see eye to eye last year, but I thought perhaps we could put it behind us you know?'

'I don't want anything to do with you Potter, or your friends. That … that jinx on my face was horrible!'

'Well look, I mean you did betray us. I thought maybe we could start over, you know, for Cho's sake?' he said, his voice showing a hint of frustration.

'For Cho's sake, I wish you would leave her alone. I don't like you, and I know you will only end up hurting her.'

'What? I would never do anything to hurt her! Surely you don't think I would harm her?' 'Can you same the same for all your enemies? Can you say that they won't hurt her to get to you?'

Harry was furious, but at the same time he knew there was truth in her words. It _was_ possible for Voldemort to use his friends to get to him. 

'So you think I should leave her then, is that it?' he said coldly

'I know you Potter, everyone thinks you're some kind of hero, but I know what you really are. You're just a little boy trying to impress everyone, craving for attention and fame.'

'You don't know anything about me, but I can see I'm wasting my time here. Goodbye!'

He marched back to where Hermione was sitting, who saw the look on his face and knew better than to ask what had happened. Suddenly his potions assignment didn't seem so unfair in comparison.

The next few months passed by quickly. After the initial success he had in his private tutoring from Dumbledore, it seemed he had hit a wall. No matter how hard he tried to pour his emotions into his spells, he was unable to notice any difference. Furthermore he still couldn't manage even the most basic wandless magic, not even with extensive practice in his free time. His frustration was apparent in everything else he did too, which only led him to become more frustrated. Snape, sensing weakness, had been fully restored to his previous vindictive state. He would stalk Harry the entire potions class, trying to throw his concentration off or spot mistakes, and then proceed to sneer at him when he did. 

The only thing keeping him happy, indeed making this his best year ever, was Cho. Even when Ravenclaw trounced Hufflepuff 250-20, he couldn't help but feel happy for her. It meant of course that Gryffindor would have to beat Slytherin by 230 points, a seemingly impossible task, but that didn't stop Ron from resuming his brutal training. Harry would have to catch the snitch when they were up by at least 80 points, and Slytherin weren't _that bad._

They also held regular guardian meetings, usually on a weekly basis since time was sparse. Hermione had used another protean charm to imbue some silver sickles with, so any member of their group could alert the others to their location if they needed help. The silver sickles would all vibrate if someone used it, and they all vowed to keep it with them at all times.

There were also some other bright points. McGonagall had personally held him after class to congratulate him. Thanks to his relentless hard work over the summer and his increased motivation he had become the second best student in his year at transfigurations and charms, behind only Hermione, and he was still the best at DADA. Professor Vladislav always asked him to help with practical demonstrations. He had become more of a teacher's assistant these days than a student, thanks to his advanced level relative to the other students. His grade in potions was rather abysmal compared to the rest, but despite Snape's best efforts to derail him he was still passing, and that was all he could hope for. 

It was now the end of May, the night before the last quidditch game. Ron had been drilling them harder than ever, even with the impossible odds it seemed he wasn't going to go down without a fight. Harry felt exhausted as he walked with Neville, his escort, from the Gryffindor tower.

'Hey Neville, I'll meet you back at the common room later on ok?'

'What? You know the rules Harry, you don't go anywhere without me!'

'Look, I'm meeting Cho. Do you really want to watch us snog?' he grinned

Comprehension slowly dawned on Neville's face, and he reluctantly agreed to give them some privacy.

'Right, gotcha Harry. She's a member of the order too, so I suppose I can leave you with her. But I'll walk with you to where you're meeting her, just in case.'

They walked together to the library, which was now largely empty, and he found her there absorbed in her books. 

'Right, well see you Harry' Neville said to him and left.

She still hadn't seen him, so he snuck up behind her and whispered softly in her ear.

'Does the book teach you anything about neglected boyfriends?'

She turned around with her eyebrows raised 

'I think it says to make them work for you. So why don't you make yourself useful, and give me a shoulder rub.'

'Stressed?'

'You have no idea; NEWTs are ten times worse than OWLs'

He firmly grabbed her shoulders and rubbed his thumbs over her muscles, trying to relax her.

'OW! You're too rough Potter!'

'Potter? Are we on a last name basis now _Chang?'_

She stood up and turned around, grinning at him

'Only when you try to paralyze me' and she kissed him, 'come on, let's get out of here.'

She packed her books and slung her bag over her shoulder, then proceeded to drag him by his hand out of the library. 

'Where are we going? We shouldn't go outside; it's much safer to stay in the castle. Besides, it's too cold anyways.'

'We'll just try to find a cozy spot, I think there's a fireplace on the third floor where we can sit.

They arrived and sat in the sofa chair by the fireplace; it was warm and cozy and the chair was big enough for both of them to snuggle up. 

'So are you going to wish me luck for the game tomorrow? If we win by enough points we can take the cup.'

'Well then, break a leg!'

'Thanks, it's nice to know you care.'

'It's not that I don't want you to win, it's just that I don't want to lose. But perhaps I can persuade you that I do care …' and she leaned in to kiss him.

He could feel her warm breath on his lips as they parted, and he realized that for the first time in his life he felt close to someone. Intimate. 

'So this is your plan? To keep me up all night and tire me out, so we'll lose the game tomorrow?' he joked at her

'Hey, that's a great idea!' Cho replied as her lips moved towards his.

* * *


	15. Gryffindor Vs Slytherin

* * *

  


Chapter 15 – Gryffindor Vs Slytherin

* * *

By 11am the next day the quidditch pitch was packed with every student at Hogwarts. They could hear the excited crowd from inside the Gryffindor locker room and all of them looked even more nervous than usual. 230 points, that's how much they had to win by. Even if he caught the snitch they would still have to be up by 80 points, and that seemed near impossible against a physical team like Slytherin. Faced with the task of leading them, Ron had tried to rise to the challenge as their captain. He had spent days on end with his strategic mind, honed from playing chess, devising highly unorthodox and risky tactics. They way he figured it; they would either give it everything they had, or at the least go down in flames of glory. Probably the latter, he thought, but he wanted to take the chance as much as anyone else. Slytherin, on the other hand, had forsaken its chances of winning the house cup and decided to play spoiler. With nothing to lose they were going to field the biggest and toughest team they could, planning to outmuscle and bruise their more skilled Gryffindor opponents. It was going to be a tough game, and everyone knew it.

'Right, I know you're all nervous -'

Ron's voice made them all look up and pay attention, as he did his best to inspire them.

'- but it's do or die. Our backs are against the wall, and it's time to show them, the whole school, what Gryffindors are really made of.'

'Hear hear!' Fiona shouted

'Now, are our three chasers ready to play physically? I don't want you –'

'We know Ron' Ginny sighed, 'the three of us are ready, trust me.'

Ron grinned at his sister before continuing

'And can I trust our beaters to dish out punishment?'

'You bet! We've been saving our most vicious moves for Slytherin' Dean said with a certain satisfaction.

'Yeah don't you worry about us, they're going to wish they'd never been born after this match.' Seamus added

'Right, that just leaves our seeker.'

'I'm ready Ron' he said with a smile 'I haven't lost against Malfoy yet have I?'

'Well I'm questioning your loyalties pal.'

The rest of the team looked shocked.

'What?'

'Do you want Ravenclaw to win because your girlfriend is on the team?'

'That's out of line Ron' Ginny said

'Harry wouldn't do that -' Seamus said in a shocked tone

'Oh you don't know Harry like I do, he's a real martyr you know, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he plans on letting her win.'

Harry got up and walked up to Ron, saying the words right to his face.

'I will never ever do that, and you've got a lot of nerve accusing me' he said in slow steady tones, the anger showing in his voice.'

Ron looked at him for a moment before breaking out in a grin

'Good, you're angry, that's what I want. I know you wouldn't do that, but you seemed a little more indifferent than the rest of us. I need you to kick some Slytherin butt Harry, and you can't do that if you're living in that happy dream land of yours.'

'You've got some nerve –'

'Save it for Slytherin, let's go'

Harry was still glaring at Ron as they put their hands together and yelled Gryffindor before running out on to the field. 

_'Here comes the Gryffindor team on the field now, do they look pumped up for the game! Gryffindor can still win the cup if they win by 230 points, a difficult but not impossible task. Some of the older students may remember that three years ago Gryffindor was in a similar situation and had to beat Slytherin by two hundred points, and they managed to pull it off then. _

There were loud boos from the Slytherin end at the reminder of that humiliating loss, but it was quickly drowned out by the tide of cheering from Gryffindor and most of Hufflepuff house. Even some Ravenclaws were hoping that Gryffindor would win, though not by too much. 

_'And Madam Hooch has released the snitch, there it goes! It zooms away and disappears into the sky.'_

They stood across from Slytherin now, as the captains shook hands. Malfoy was sneering at him, and making taunts in an attempt to throw him off his game.

'Did you tie yourself to your broomstick this time potter? You seem to fall off it a lot' he said malevolently

'Did you wash your hands Malfoy? Maybe the snitch keeps slipping out of your hands because you're too greasy.'

Malfoy was about to retort but at that moment the whistle blew and madam Hooch released the bludgers and quaffle.

_And the game has started! The chasers fly into the air after the quaffle, and Slytherin gains possession! The chaser moves up the field, flanked by the two Slytherin beaters, who are clearing the path for him. Oh, and one of the beaters has just been hit in the arm with a bludger. _

Dean was grinning like a maniac after hitting the bludger and now rammed into the side of the Slytherin chaser.

_Ouch! That HAD to hurt! Gryffindor are in possession now, all the chasers are flying in close formation as the beaters hit the bludgers to clear the way. She's got some moves that one! And she scores! 10-0 for Gryffindor. _

Harry looked over at Malfoy who was scanning around for the snitch. He was going for the quickest win possible, as a win now would assure them of second place. The rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor was so heated that either team would rather see Ravenclaw win than each other. He looked over at Ron who caught his eye and nodded at him. It was time for one of those risky moves that they had talked about. 

'_And Slytherin is in possession again, using their size to knock their opponents out of the way. OH BUT LOOK AT THE GRYFFINDOR SEEKER!'_

The whole crowd let out a stunned note of shock now, as Harry sped across the field.

_Harry Potter is playing as a chaser! This is extremely unorthodox folks, and risky too! Gryffindor are now playing with four chasers leaving Malfoy to catch the snitch alone. And they storm up the field! Ginny passes to Fiona, Fiona to Harry, what a swerve! He passed the quaffle back to Fiona and she scores! 20-0 for Gryffindor!_

The Slytherin team was in shock. He looked up at Malfoy who had been watching the play instead of searching for the snitch. They exchanged glances before Malfoy resumed his search. 

_'Slytherin in possession, they attack. Oh they're going to have to do better than that, it seems as if their entire team has collapsed, they're playing without any kind of set play. Gryffindor regains the quaffle, and go on the attack. Here come the four chasers again, and Slytherin is simply outmatched! 30-0 for Gryffindor! _

The Slytherin team looked livid now, they were down by thirty points and the game had hardly started. Their captain shouted some instructions to the rest of the team as they regrouped and made another run.

_'Here comes Slytherin again, using the hawkshead formation to attack. Gryffindor sends a bludger flying at the chaser holding the quaffle, but he managed to pass it to a team member who flies down the pitch. He's making his final scoring run now, OH MY! Two of the Gryffindor chasers have just sandwiched him! He looks dazed now, barely hanging on to his broom as Gryffindor regains possessions of the quaffle. This isn't looking good for Slytherin; they may be down by two chasers now, as the Slytherin player seems to have no idea where he is anymore. And here comes Ginny Weasley on the attack again, flanked by two other chasers. A backwards pass to Mandy who takes a shot and scores! 40-0 for Gryffindor! This game is turning into a clobbering folks; it might start to get dirty now. And the Slytherin captain has called a time-out! There's going to be a three minute time out folks, in which Slytherin will try to regroup and make a comeback._

Harry flew over to Ron who was grinning like crazy. By now the Gryffindor fans had gone absolutely crazy; they were drowning out all the other houses in a feverous show of support for their team.

'Brilliant Harry' Ron grinned, 'but be careful, we don't want Malfoy to catch the snitch.'

The other members of their team flew over to Ron and Harry too, and he started reminding them of the task they still had to accomplish.

'We still have to get 40 more points, and then catch the snitch. You can bet your life that Slytherin are going to play extremely dirty now, so watch yourselves. We can't afford for any of us to get injured!'

They all nodded their understanding and resumed their positions.

Ginny was giggling now, and they looked at what she was laughing at. She pointed her finger down at the Slytherin team, where their captain was yelling at Malfoy for not getting the snitch yet. Malfoy looked thoroughly furious; he had had almost ten minutes alone but had never come close to catching the snitch.

_'And madam Hooch has whistled signaling the game will resume. The teams take their positions and Slytherin retains possession. And there goes the whistle! Slytherin on the attack again … oh and it seems Harry Potter has resumed his regular duty as seeker, he's now flying next to Malfoy and they're both looking for the snitch. The Slytherin chasers go on the attack, and one of them has broken through the defense. He takes a shot, but the keeper has saved it! Hard to believe that was only the first shot of the game for Slytherin, it seems their time out has really helped them get it together. Gryffindor now has possession, and Ginny Weasley is on the attack. OH MY, that's a foul! _

Goyle had just hit Ginny on the head with his bat, causing her to drop the quaffle and nearly fall of her broom. Madam hooch was livid, screaming at Goyle for such a flagrant foul. Ron was fuming as he flew down to Madam Hooch to vent his displeasure, but at that moment Dean flew up behind Goyle and smashed him over the head as hard as he could with his bat. 

'THAT'S ENOUGH!' Madam Hooch screamed. She had taken out her wand and was pointing it at them. 'There will be a penalty to each of the teams, and if I see anymore of this unsportsmanlike behavior - any at all – I will kick that player out of the game!'

Mandy took the first foul for Gryffindor, and her accurate shot easily beat the keeper. Unfortunately Ron was still furious about his sister getting hit and missed the shot by Slytherin. 

'And play has resumed, let's hope we'll see no more of that! Gryffindor is in possession now, and they speed down the pitch towards the Slytherin end. Oh that was a close bludger! And she's dropped the quaffle which was intercepted by a Slytherin player, who turns around and zig zags over the field, trying to dodge bludgers. He takes a shot and scores! It's now 50-20, and Gryffindor can't be happy about this. 

There it was. The snitch was in the corner of the pitch, and they both spotted it at the same time. 

_'There go the seekers! But Gryffindor can't catch it yet, they're only up by thirty points, unless they're happy to settle for second place. They're neck in neck now, and Harry Potter slams into Draco Malfoy, but they both remain on course. Harry has a slight lead now, thanks to his firebolt, and he suddenly swerves to try and block Malfoy. Oh no, the Slytherin seeker anticipated and managed to dodge, and now he's got a clear path to the snitch. The Gryffindor seeker has no chance of catching him, and it looks like Gryffindor's luck may just have run out. He's only three meters away from it now, and inching closer. He's almost got his hands over it now, and OH! He didn't see that coming! He just took a bludger to the head and it looks like he's down for the count! Yes, he's trying to get up but it looks like he got knocked into yesterday! And Gryffindor have taken this moment of confusion to score! 60-20!_

Harry was grinning now, his heart pumping like crazy. They had almost lost, but instead Malfoy was on the ground shaking cobwebs out of his head. With renewed hope he pushed his firebolt to the limit and charged at the Slytherin beaters.

_'It seems Gryffindor have gone back to their first tactic, and are using their seeker as an extra chaser. With the extra attacker Slytherin will have a tough time matching them, they'd better hope their seeker can start flying again soon. And Ron Weasley had no problem stopping that easy shot! Gryffindor are now in possession, and they're zooming down the field. Mandy passes to Fiona, while Ginny flanks them. Fiona is blocked by the Slytherin Chaser, but she manages to pass to Ginny. Ginny now speeds down the field, and there's a bludger flying for her. Oh but they've left Harry all alone, and he scores with the quaffle! Are you watching this? The Gryffindor seeker has just scored! That hasn't happened since the game in '82 between __England__ and __Germany__! It's now 70-20, and the end of the game is nowhere in sight. It looks like the Slytherin seeker is getting back on his broom now and slowly flying upwards.'_

Harry cursed under his breath as he saw Malfoy searching for the snitch again. He decided to make one more attack with the chasers before he would return to seeking. He urged his broom to fly across the pitch as they tried to regain possession. 

_The Gryffindor seeker is playing with fire now! He's still risking losing the game by allowing the other seeker to search for the snitch freely. Oh there's a collision at the center of the field, as the Gryffindor beater and Slytherin chaser ran into each other. Ginny grabs the quaffle and speeds across the field. She passes to Fiona, but there's a bludger heading for her! Harry Potter has blocked the bludger, it looks like he's hurt his arm but Gryffindor score!  It's now 80-20, but will he be able to catch that snitch now? _

Harry grimaced at the pain. It wasn't broken but the pain definitely stopped him from moving it too much. How foolish of him to try and block that bludger with his body. He flew back to the top of the field and searched for the snitch, trying to block out the pain in his arm. 

'That looks like it hurt scarhead' Malfoy's drawling voice sniggered at him.

'Were you born this annoying Malfoy, or did you go to slimy git school before you came to Hogwarts?'

Malfoy gave him an angry look, but stayed focused on trying to find the snitch. 

'90-20! What a beautiful play that was! It's only her second year on the team but Ginny Weasley has clearly become one of the best chasers at Hogwarts! Quidditch skill definitely runs in that family, as five out of six of her brothers played for Gryffindor…

There it was. The golden snitch. If he caught it now Ravenclaw and Gryffindor would be tied for points, and Ravenclaw would win by default. He chased down the snitch while trying to listen to the announcer. If he heard that Gryffindor scored again he would catch it, if not he would still have a head start on Malfoy making it easier to block him. 

'_There goes the Gryffindor seeker! Draco Malfoy was caught by surprise and he's now playing catch-up to the firebolt! They weave through the field; oh that was a close bludger! The Gryffindor seeker had to swerve aside and as a result he's now parallel to the Slytherin seeker. They bang against each other as they try to catch up to the snitch. Meanwhile Ronald Weasley has just made an amazing save! How on earth did he stop that one?_

Harry slammed against Malfoy, who returned the favor, but neither of them was giving an inch in this furious race. The snitch was twenty meters ahead of them now, but still speeding along making it hard to catch up to it. Suddenly the snitch changed directions and headed downwards. They both followed it and plunged towards the ground, still neck in neck as they were only ten meters away from it now. 

_Gryffindor scores again! It's now 100-20!!! THIS IS IT FOLKS; THIS SEEKER __BATTLE__ WILL DECIDE WHO WINS THE CUP!_

Something clicked in Harry's mind. It was as if time slowed down, and his heart had stopped beating. Every movement seemed to take seconds. He had to do something to outmaneuver Malfoy and it was as if someone else was controlling his movements now. He pulled up his broom slightly allowing Malfoy to go ahead of him. Malfoy was now level with the snitch and barely two meters away from it, while Harry was about a meter above Malfoy and further away from the snitch. They raced along the ground, closing in, when Harry suddenly brought his broom down on Malfoy's head, causing him to get flattened against the ground. Suddenly the slow-motion seemed to stop and he found himself racing for the snitch at breakneck speeds. Closer … closer … He had caught it. 

_'150 points for Gryffindor as Harry Potter has caught the snitch! But what's this? Madam Hooch is blowing the whistle? Is that allowed when the match is over?'_

The stadium was completely silent. There had never been such a large group of people who weren't saying anything. 

'That was a foul!' Madam Hooch yelled. 

They had all landed now and were running towards her for an explanation.

'But he caught the snitch before you blew the whistle! You can't take that back …. Can you?' Ron said; his eyes open wide with fear.

'No I can't, but the rules WILL allow me to grant a penalty shot, and that was clearly a foul!'

'A penalty shot?!' 

This couldn't be happening. They had won the game by 230 points, if Slytherin were allowed a penalty shot now it would lose them the cup.

'You can't be serious' Ron stammered.

'I'm dead serious' she snapped, 'there will be one penalty shot against Gryffindor and it will be taken NOW.'

Ron was clearly flustered, and he didn't know what to do.

'Can we call a time-out' Harry said, trying to buy some time for his keeper.

'Very well, you have three minutes.'

He walked over to Ron and grabbed him by the shoulders.

'RON! Look at me. You can do this; you can win the game for us. Block out the crowd, block out all the other players, just focus on the quaffle, focus on stopping it.'

'Right … right Harry.'

He was looking at Harry now, his determination and confidence returning. His eyes became more focused and he got back on his broom and did a few loops around the posts to calm his nerves. 

_'Can you believe this folks? This shot will determine the winner of the cup! We're making history here; this game will be remembered and talked about for generations. It looks like Graham Pritchard will be taking the shot for Slytherin … The Gryffindor keeper must be under an enormous amount of pressure, he could win or lose the cup based on this one save!'_

Once again there was complete silence. You could have heard a pin drop as every student and teacher in Hogwarts was glued to the shot. This was it. Their hopes and dreams would be saved or dashed.

_'He takes the shot … SAVED!!! SAVED!! Gryffindor wins the house cup for the third year in a row!! The final score is 250 to 20! Oh my, what a game! _

The Gryffindor students were pouring onto the field now, running to their quidditch team to congratulate them. The Ravenclaw stands on the other hand were filled with shock; they still couldn't believe what had happened. The Hufflepuffs had all stood up and were now clapping, a sign of respect for this amazing game. Harry looked around for Cho in the crowd, but couldn't find her anywhere. The crowd of Gryffindors had now enveloped him and carried him back to their common room before he could find her, and it was futile to resist. 

Huge banners were hanging from the ceilings, a tribute to their entire team for winning three times in a row. People he had never even met were trying to get autographs from him as well as the rest of the team. Ron was glowing brighter than a Christmas tree, reveling in the attention some young fourth year girls were giving him, while Ginny was crying tears of joy as Dean retold the game for the tenth time. 

It was nine o'clock before he could get away from the party in their dorm, and he immediately set out to find Cho. He took out the marauders map, looking for her name, and located her sitting by the lake alone. In all the excitement and confusion his guard had forgotten to follow him and he was walking alone down the corridors. It was refreshing to be alone, as he had been surrounded by at least a dozen people since the start of the game and it was tiring him out. He quickly walked out the main gate and headed towards the Lake while scanning the map. No one was around, there were no names on the map aside from his and hers, so what was the danger? As he got closer to where she was, thoughts were running through his mind. Was she mad at him for losing the cup? He felt a twang of guilt, this was her last year after all, and the last chance she ever had at winning the cup. To him it was number three, and he could win it again next year. 

'Cho?'

'Harry! How did you find me?'

'Oh, I used the marauders map. Err, are you ok?'

She was sitting by the lake against the log they had sat by earlier in the year, and he could see she had been crying.

'I … I'm just disappointed that's all.'

'Oh, right. I'm sorry …'

'No, don't be sorry. You gave it everything you had and you won fair and square, I'm just being a crybaby…'

He sat down next to her and put his arm around her, it made him feel awful to see her cry like this.

'Is there anything I can do?'

'No … yes … Harry, what is it you like about me?'

'What do you mean?' he said confused, 'what don't I like about you?'

She hiccupped and smiled briefly, but still looked sad. 

'I just want you to tell me, I want to hear it in your words.'

'Well, Uh, I mean you're really good looking …'

He cringed at that one, realizing his stupidity as he saw the expression on her face, and quickly tried to think of other things.

'You're smart too…. And uh… very popular'

She buried her face in her hands and started crying again, making him feel completely flustered.

'Cho? Err…'

'Is that all I am to you? A trophy?'

'What? Of course not! Cho …'

'I just want to be alone now, sorry' and she got up and ran away leaving Harry feeling completely speechless. 

_Women_ he thought to himself, what on earth is going through their heads. How could she possible think of herself as a trophy? He just couldn't think of the words, he was a quidditch player not a bloody poet. 

He unfolded the map again and saw that she had run up to the Ravenclaw dorm where he couldn't follow her. Hermione! He needed Hermione; she would know what to do. He scanned for her name in the Gryffindor dorm but it wasn't there, instead he found it in the library. Why wasn't she at the celebrations? Even she wasn't that much of a bookworm he thought, as he headed to meet her. 

'Hermione?' 

She looked up from her book and gave him a watery smile. 

'Oh hello Harry, what are you doing here?'

'I need your help' he said with exasperation, 'Cho's mad about something, I think it was something I said.'

'Well at least you noticed; which is more than I can say for Ron. He's too busy impressing fourth year bimbos to even notice I'm gone' she said, a note of bitterness evident in her voice

'Err is everything ok between you two?'

'Forget it, let's talk about you? What happened?'

He explained everything that had happened, and when he told her what he had said to her she rolled her eyes at him and let out a sigh.

'Oh Harry, she feels like she's not good enough for you, don't you see?'

'That's ridiculous, I'm crazy about her!'

'Yes I know that, but she's feeling a little insecure and she wanted you to tell her how you felt.'

'But … I told her she was intelligent and pretty'

Hermione seemed to be trying to control her eyes from rolling again, as her lips mouthed the word _men_.

'No need to be like that' he scowled, 'I came to you for help not to be patronized.'

'Well she wants to be more than a beautiful and intelligent girl to you; she wants you to love her for who she is.'

'But I do … I'm just not very good with words you know, especially when she's crying right in front of me.'

'Why don't you write her a letter then? It might be easier to say it in words.'

He thought about this before nodding his agreement.

'Alright then, I'll give it a shot. You can read it before I send it, make sure I don't say anything really dumb.'

'Here, take this piece of parchment and you can borrow my quill.'

He thought about what to write. '_Dear Cho,' … but his mind kept drawing blanks after that._

'How about some help Hermione?'

'I am not going to write your love letter for you.' She snapped, 'just write how you really feel, it doesn't have to be fancy.'

He started writing whatever came in his head, crossing out entire parts and sometimes starting again from scratch, until he had finally written what he thought was the best description of his feelings.

_Dear Cho,_

_Words can't possibly describe how I feel about you. Throughout my life, I've never felt like this before. It's how you make me feel, and how you make me forget all the pain I carry. I love the way you bring out the best in me, the way I could never be sad as long as I know you care for me. An hour spent without you feels like a day, and a day with you feels like an hour. When I look in your eyes, I want to grow old with you. It hurts me to see you sad, and I don't ever want to be without you. I wish you would realize how much I love you._

_Harry_

'So what do you think? He said, trying not to die of embarrassment as she read it. She seemed impressed though, her eyebrows raised with mild surprise.

'Well I would be flattered if a guy sent me a letter like this, you have my seal of approval. Why don't you ask her to join you by the lake as a postscript?'

'Right' he grinned and scribbled it down, 'Thanks Hermione, you're the best.'

'And somehow I got stuck with the most insensitive pig at Hogwarts.'

'Eh? You sure you're ok?'

'Yes, I'm fine. Go send your letter before it's too dark. Oh and leave me the map, if you're going to be wandering around by yourself without a guard I want to keep an eye out for you. I can watch the map to make sure nobody comes near you; you've got your charmed sickle right?'

'Yes in my pocket, thanks!' and he gave her an appreciative hug before running to his dorm. 

'Harry! Come and have a butterbeer with us!' Ron yelled as he walked back in the common room. 

'Ron, you insensitive wart, haven't you wondered where Hermione is?'

'Oh, she said she had to study or something. Why?'

'I think you'd better go see to her you prat, she's in the library.'

Ron frowned at him but nodded and walked out, to the dismay of the girls he was chatting with.

He ran up to his room and found Hedwig, and tied the letter to her leg.

'Right Hedwig, I want you to deliver this right away, and make sure she gets it! Peck her or break the glass, whatever it takes, but don't let her ignore you!'

His owl hooted her agreement and flew out of the window. He then headed back downstairs and made his way to the lake again. It was getting colder outside now, and he took his invisibility cloak with him. Turned inside out it didn't make him invisible but it did keep him warm, and it had proven handy in the past. He arrived at the same log and sat down, watching the ripples in the water. 

There was a sound behind him, and he saw Cho standing there, tears in her eyes and the letter in her hand. 

'Cho …'

But he never finished what he was going to say. She ran up to him and flung her arms around him, her lips not allowing him to say anything. It was more passionate than he had ever experienced, both of their emotions running rampant. She pulled him down on the ground and held him tightly, their bodies intertwined, his hand running through her hair. She began kissing his neck and briefly whispered in his ear.

'_I want to grow old with you too Harry'_

* * *


	16. The Curse Of The Dark Arts Job

* * *

  


Chapter 16 – The Cursed Dark Arts Job 

* * *

Harry walked to his morning class in a state of dreaminess. Though incredibly tired, he had woken up bright and early that morning, energized by the memory of the night before. He had been with Cho until the late hours of the night, exchanging affection and plans for the summer, and for the first time since coming to Hogwarts he wasn't completely dreading the end of school. They would finally be able to spend time with each other without exams or prying friends, and he would also be of age, able to perform magic outside of school. 

Even the thought of a double potions class with Snape couldn't dampen his enthusiasm, and he walked in the class and sat down at his usual seat humming a tune to himself. 

'What are you so cheerful about?' Hermione asked with a look of disbelief, 'don't tell me you're actually happy to be in potions?'

'Oh yes, that's it' he grinned, 'Old snivelly is really growing on me, it's my favorite class now.'

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him before continuing.

'I take it the letter worked? That's twice now you owe me.'

'Worked like a charm Hermione' he said cheerfully, 'don't know what I'd do without you.'

'Well I hope you can bring your head down from the clouds and focus, we have to make a really complex potion today.'

At that moment their professor stormed in the room and surveyed them all with an especially nasty expression.

'Today we will be making the pepperup potion; the instructions are on page fifteen and you will be required to work on your own. There will be no further need to talk. Begin.'

Harry opened his book and began skimming his instructions, taking note of the important things. He took out his wand and was about to light a fire under his cauldron when Snape's voice called out to him.

'Potter, bring your things here. You will be working in front of me where I can keep my eyes on you.

He glared at Snape but he had no choice except to do as he was told. Reluctantly he grabbed his things and moved them right in front of the potions master.

'So… Mr. Potter is once again the hero of the wizarding world, and all the attention has gone to his head. I almost thought you had improved Potter when you started school this year, but it seems you are back to your usual disregard for school rules.

'Which school rules would those be _sir' He said defiantly._

Snape simply smiled malevolently at him though before continuing his provocations.

'You might be able to impress others with your quidditch moves, but I'm not going to be fooled. To me you'll always be a dishonest little boy with no regard for other people's property.'

'You seem so sure it was me, but as usual you have no proof' He snapped back, the insults breaking his resolve to ignore Snape.

'You're right. If I had proof you would be expelled! But mark my words, I will find out why you took ingredients out of my private stores again' Snape snarled at him before getting up and making his rounds of the classroom. 

Harry felt angry but forced himself to concentrate on his potions. Why had someone stolen ingredients out of Snape's private store? It was true that they had done it before to make the polyjuice potion in their second year, but this time it had been someone else.

Nevertheless Snape couldn't dampen his mood, and he continued brewing his potion. Snape on the other hand was taking his bad mood out on all the non-Slytherin students too.

'Are you not able to read boy?' Snape snarled at the Ravenclaw boy, 'The fourth line clearly says to use only a dash of ginger, your potion has been rendered useless.'

He was glad when the class was finally over and rushed to the great hall for a quick lunch before his next class.

When they arrived at their DADA class their professor wasn't there yet. He sat down next to Neville who was desperately trying to finish his homework before the teacher arrived.

'Hey Neville, want to copy mine?'

'Yes! Thanks Harry, I was so busy practicing the stuff from your DA class that I forgot to finish my essay. I've almost managed the patronus you know, it's starting to take a shape though I still can't make out what it is.'

'That's great Neville. I really think you're going to be a great wizard someday, you've got power locked away in you somewhere' he said nicely.

Neville seemed delighted at this praise and desperately tried to finish his essay.

He wondered where their professor was, class started five minutes ago but he still hadn't arrived. He turned around and looked at Ron and Hermione who were sitting behind him, but they shrugged their shoulders. 

'Maybe he's sick' Hermione suggested.

'I hope we don't get Snape as a substitute again' Ron groaned.

But Ron needn't have worried, at that moment professor Vladislav walked in and sat down at his desk.

'Today's class will be used for revision. Please study from your books quietly and read chapter fifteen.'

Everyone looked at each other and exchanged curious classes. Professor Vladislav may have been creepy as hell but he had been a great teacher so far. Unlike last year with Umbridge, all their lessons had been of a practical nature. He was a hands-on teacher and was vastly experienced in fighting the dark arts in real life, not a bookworm, and everyone respected him because of it. They opened their books and began reading but Harry kept staring at the professor. He seemed preoccupied, as if he was worried about something or in deep thought. 

He was glad to eventually get out of the class and walked back to the common room to drop off his bag. 

'Well that was certainly strange' Hermione said

'Yeah, I wonder what was troubling him' Harry replied

'By the way Harry, I still have your map. I'm heading to the library right now but I'll give it back later tonight.'

'Oh right, well I should be back around nine o' clock. I have to, uh, go somewhere.'

Hermione raised her eyebrows but didn't inquire. He still hadn't told them about his private lessons with Dumbledore even though he suspected she knew. She always seemed so perceptive about things, often to the point of looking down on others. 

When he arrived back at the common room someone ran up to him

'Hey Harry!'

'Oh Hi Colin, what's up?'

'I finally got my pictures from the quidditch game developed, and I wanted to give you a copy of this one as a souvenir.

He looked at the picture and nearly fell over laughing. Colin had snapped a shot of him flattening Malfoy right before catching the snitch. It was a moving picture that played the same scene over and over; probably not Malfoy's proudest moment. 

'Maybe you should send this to the daily prophet Colin' he grinned evilly, 'It was a superb game after all.'

'Wow you think Harry? I want to become a photographer for them when I graduate, so maybe I should…'

'Definitely' he agreed, 'I hope they publish it.'

Somehow, if they did publish it, it would really make his day. Actually having a picture of Malfoy getting flattened delivered to every wizarding home in Britain would make his month. With a memory like that, Neville should have no more problems making a patronus.

A part of him felt a certain sense of foreboding as he walked to the Headmasters office. He really hoped they would learn something other than wandless magic or using his emotions in spells today, since he had made no visible progress in either one. It was getting ridiculous, he considered the last few months of private lessons a waste of time; having accomplished virtually nothing. What also annoyed him was that Dumbledore didn't seem the least surprised that he had failed completely. It was almost as if he expected him to fail, but wanted him to try anyways. A part of him realized that Dumbledore knew what he was doing, but at the same time he felt he deserved some answers.

'Ah Harry, right on time.'

'Hello Sir' he said politely.

'Now I sense that you are a little tired of learning wandless magic? I understand completely, why don't we learn something new today?'

'I'd like that sir, but why did you make me try to learn when you knew I couldn't do it?'

Something twinkled in Dumbledore's eyes, and a smile escaped his lips.

'I think perhaps you are not ready to … unlock certain abilities in you, but when the time comes I believe you will find that the effort was not wasted. Now today I would like to –'

But at that moment Fawkes flew in and dropped a letter at Dumbledore's side, who quickly opened it. His expression went from puzzled to worried, before decisively standing up and pulling out his wand. 

'Harry I must ask you to go back to your common room and stay there with your friends immediately.'

'What's wrong? Has something happened?'

'The order has been attacked, that is all I know. I must leave immediately! Please do not dally and be careful; I will explain when I return. And please summon your friends to keep you company while I am away from the school. Do you understand?'

'Right, be careful sir.'

He fumbled for the silver sickle in his pocket as he quickly ran down the spiral staircase. After locating it he tapped it with his wand which would summon his friends to his side. What could have happened? Surely Voldemort couldn't attack Grimmauld place? It was hidden after all, and only Dumbledore could show people where it was. They must have been on a mission when they were attacked, and a sense of worry started to envelop him. What if some of them were injured? Or killed? Lupin … The Weasleys … his stomach started to churn. He was reminded of the risk all of them took, and he understood why Mrs.Weasley was so worried all the time. He hurried round the corner and continued on his way to the common room when he saw Dean and Ginny lying on the ground. They looked unconscious and professor Vladislav was standing over them, examining their bodies with his wand drawn out. 

'Professor? What's going on?' 

'Harry! The school is being attacked, I must get you to safety; follow me.'

The professor stood up and walked over to him, and instinctively his hand fumbled for his wand in his pocket. _Constant Vigilance a voice in his head reminded him._

'What about them sir? We can't just leave them …'

'You are the target Harry; I'll come back for the others later.'

'Harry!' a voice shouted. Lupin had just emerged from the hallway leading to the Gryffindor common room, his wand drawn out and pointed at Vladislav.

'Who are you' Vladislav growled. They were both pointing their wands at each other, ready to strike at the first sign of trouble. 

'I was sent here by Dumbledore to fetch Harry, he must come with me' Lupin said slowly

'The boy isn't going anywhere with you.'

'Sir, this is professor Lupin. He was our DADA teacher three years ago.'

'The werewolf? Harry, do not trust this man' he snarled.

Lupin's eyes narrowed and he looked ready to attack at any moment, but when he spoke he remained completely calm. 

'I've heard about you Vladislav, heard you delved deep into the dark arts. Spent a lot of time in Albania too I hear, coincidentally the place where Voldemort was hiding. Harry step away from him.'

Harry stepped away from his DADA teacher and drew out his wand, but he didn't walk over to Lupin either. 

'I won't let you take the boy!'

'Stop - Both of you! Remus – what is the form of my patronus?'

Lupin took his eyes of Vladislav and looked at Harry with curiosity, and then he smiled.

'It's a stag Harry. You used it to save Sirius and myself from the dementors in your third year.'

'No!' 

Vladislav waved his wand and sent a red streak at Lupin, who instantly cast a shield charm to protect himself. Lupin then countered with a stunner which missed by a few inches, while Vladislav sent a green streak right after his first spell. Lupin wasn't fast enough for the second spell and it hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him unconscious to the ground. Harry didn't hesitate anymore; he pointed his wand at his DADA teacher and yelled _petrifucus totalus. Vladislav's eyes were opened wide in horror, but he managed to block it at the last moment. _

'Harry! Lower your wand' he snarled

'No, I can't trust you.'

He waved his wand again and sent a stunner at Vladislav, who blocked it and immediately recovered. He was about to send a spell at Harry when his eyes suddenly opened wide in fear and he collapsed on the ground. Cho was standing further behind, her wand pointed at Vladislav's body and her hand trembling at what she had done.

'Harry … I didn't know what to do. I got your warning from the sickle and I saw you dueling with the professor so I stunned him.'

'It's ok, you did the right thing. I think he attacked Ginny and Dean, and then Lupin too.'

He checked their pulses and saw that they were just stunned, and then he walked up to Lupin.

'_enervate_'

Lupin's eyes opened and after a moment of disorientation he sat up and grabbed his wand. 

'Harry … what happened? No nevermind, there's no time. We have to get out of here.' 

'But what about Dean and Ginny?'

'They'll be fine, they're just stunned. I'm under orders to bring only you to Grimmauld place.'

'Well he's not going without me!' Cho said fiercely.

Lupin looked up and gave her an appraising stare before breaking out in a smile. 

'I suppose that's only fair. Head down the hallway behind me and go round the corner, the portkey is through the second door on your right. I'm going to wake Dean and Ginny and bind your professor before I meet you. Don't trust anyone, now go!

'Right.'

He grabbed Cho's hand and led her round the corner and through the doorway, where they nervously waited for Lupin with their wands drawn.

'I'm scared Harry' she said with a shaky voice.

He looked at her and squeezed her hand. 

'Don't be, I won't let anything happen to you.'

At that moment Lupin came running through the door, his wand pulled out as he walked over to the desk.

'This bowl is the portkey, we'll grab it together on three ok? One - two - _three._

He felt his navel jerk as he was pulled forward, the familiar bright light flashing before his eyes and disorienting him. Then it stopped and he was in a large room he didn't recognize, not Grimmauld place. A feeling of cold and emptiness overwhelmed his senses, and he saw a dementor heading straight for him; it's clammy and slimy hand extended. Instinctively he stepped in front of Cho and lifted his wand to cast a patronus, but before he could finish the incantation he heard Lupin's voice croak _expelliarmus. His wand flew out of his hand and he was thrown on the ground, scrambling to get up. Cho had already collapsed, and he reached for her wand but it was too late; there was nowhere left to go._

He had been wrong; that wasn't Lupin. It had been a trap.

The last thing that went through his mind before he fainted was total fear.

* * *


	17. The Last Marauder

* * *

  


Chapter 17 – The Last Marauder

* * *

_'Sirius!' Harry yelled. 'Sirius!_

_He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out…_

_But as he reached the ground and sprinted towards the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back. _

_'There's nothing you can do, Harry –'_

_'Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!'_

_'-it's too late, Harry.'_

_'We can still reach him –' Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go …_

_'There's nothing you can do, Harry … nothing … he's gone_

He felt his body being jerked awake and blinked his eyes as he tried to get used to the light. 

'Aww was baby potter having a nightmare?' a mocking woman's voice said.

His arms were tied together with ropes, hanging from the ceiling. He was in a huge empty room, with nothing but a table and an unused fireplace. On the other side of the room were Bellatrix Lestrange and Wormtail. Bella was grinning delightedly at him while Wormtail's expressions remained ambivalent. 

'You' he snarled.

'Yes me' she smiled maniacally back at him, 'I've been dying to see you again Potter; I believe I still owe you for last year at the ministry.'

She raised her wand at him and uttered _crucio!_

The pain was unbearable; his whole body felt like it was on fire. And then it stopped.

'Enough! We must wait until the Dark Lord comes back' Wormtail said to her.

He forced himself to look up again, the pain from the cruciatus curse still lingering in his bones. She had lowered her wand but was still grinning, her eyes dark and empty except for a burning spark of madness.

He felt hatred, more hatred than he had ever felt in his life. In front of him was the woman who had killed his godfather, and the man who betrayed his parents. The anger was coursing through his veins, but there was nothing he could do. His wand was lying on a table, next to the silver sickle and Cho's necklace.

_Cho …_

His heart stopped beating as he remembered she had come with him. He would never forgive himself if anything had happened to her.

'Aww look, little baby potter is upset about something' she shrieked with laughter. 'Is little bitty potter afraid?'

'I'm not afraid of either of you' he snarled, 'and I'm not afraid of Voldemort either.'

It was a lie, but he was so angry that he had to do something, anything, to fight back.

'Do not utter the Dark Lord's name you filthy half-blood' she said menacingly.

'I told you before, Voldemort's a halfblood too. You did know that didn't you? How does it feel to be taking orders from a non-pure blood?'

'Silence you filthy vermin, you dare to utter his name with your –'

'That will do' a cold high voice said.

Harry's heart missed a beat again; there standing in the doorway was the tall thin man with the pale white face, merciless red eyes with vertical pupils, and a snake-like nose with slits. _Lord Voldemort._

He walked in the room past Bella and Wormtail, who were now down on one knee in respect, and surveyed Harry with his cold eyes. His scar was bursting with pain now, and he forced himself to focus on occlumency to make it subside.

'So … you have learnt some new skills since we last met' he laughed coldly, 'you would have made a great deatheater Potter. But fate destined you to be meek, wasting the talents I gave you on helping those muggle-loving fools.'

He paced around the room now, lowering his voice but still staring at Harry.

'So be it. Lord Voldemort has no need for compassionate fools. I will give you a choice Potter; suffer excruciating pain as I break into your mind, or tell me the prophecy now and die quickly.  

'I'll never tell you' he hissed.

Voldemort did not seem angry though, he just continued looking at him with those malevolent red eyes. 

'Never is a long time my young friend, as you will soon discover. Your werewolf friend was most uncooperative too, and held out longer than I would have expected, but eventually I broke into his mind.'

_Lupin … no …_

Harry felt a sharp pain in his chest and he could no longer look Voldemort in the eye.  

'Wormtail, fetch your old friend and bring him in here.'

Without a word Wormtail left quietly through the door, and Voldemort continued his cruel mocking.

'It was Wormtail who suggested we use Lupin to deceive you. He guessed, quite rightly, that you would have an emotional attachment to the last of your father's friends. And so I captured him, and I learned everything I could. After months of waiting; my young deatheater at Hogwarts providing information, and Bella using the polyjuice potion, we finally created the perfect distraction to lure Dumbledore away.'

He cackled loudly again, his laughter ringing through the large room.

'Do you see now Harry? You have some of the power of Lord Voldemort inside you, powers that I myself gave you, and yet you weaken yourself by caring for these fools. And now your compassion will be your downfall. I will know the prophecy one way or the other, and then I will kill you.'

Wormtail came back through the door, levitating a body with his wand in front of him.

_Lupin_ … he was covered in blood, his entire body littered with open cuts and bruises. Wormtail waved the body against the wall with his wand and then resumed his place in the corner of the room. 

Lupin's whole body was shaking as he lay on the ground. He had been tortured with the cruciatus curse to the point of injuring himself, his skin covered in deep cuts and red marks. He seemed to be in a trance, unaware of his surroundings and oblivious to everyone. Harry felt as is he was going to be sick, the pain in his heart making his whole body tense.

'I'm afraid he's not quite with us anymore; I had to use very powerful magic that destroyed his mind' Voldemort's cold voice said with mock remorse. 

Harry felt tears welling in his eyes … _Lupin … tortured because of him … he couldn't bear it. He forced himself to look up again, this time staring at Wormtail._

'I hope you're really proud of yourself Wormtail' he said bitterly, 'You betrayed my parents. You let Sirius go to Azkaban for twelve years, and then your friends killed him. And now you've killed Remus. I hope your new friends were worth killing the old ones over.'

Wormtail said nothing; his eyes remained focused on the floor. Voldemort on the other hand laughed again, a cold heartless laugh that reflected his enjoyment of the situation.

'Wormtail here is as worthless as they come. Your father was a fool to trust him; he is a coward, he has been a coward his whole life, and he will always be a coward. He is loyal only to those who can protect him, and his one redeeming quality is that he chose to serve me. But enough talk, your werewolf friend is useless now, and Lord Voldemort disposes of useless things.' _Avada kedavra_!

Harry closed his eyes and felt tears flowing down his cheeks. _Lupin_ … _please, just let me die … and then the pain hit him again. Like a thousand hot needles being poked into his skin, his very bones felt like they were on fire, his eyes rolling in his head. It went on and on, and then it stopped again, leaving him limply hanging from the ceiling. Unable to put up a defense, his scar exploded with pain, and he saw memories flashing before his eyes. _He was in Dumbledore's office; as if he was dreaming. He saw the pensieve, with the shape of Trelawney rising, as Dumbledore touched it with his wand.__

'No … you can't see that … NO!' he screamed as he forced Voldemort out of his head.

His scar was exploding with pain again, and Voldemort was looking at him with a cold fury.

'So … you have become quite a powerful occlumens. But it does not matter; it is only a matter of time. Eventually I _will break into your mind._

'Master, if I may interrupt. Potter brought along a guest to your reunion party' Bella grinned madly, 'his girlfriend is currently being held by the dementor downstairs.'

Voldemort's nostrils widened with excitement, his lips once again forming a cruel smile. 

'Excellent' he whispered, 'fetch her Wormtail; we must invite her to the festivities.'

_Not Cho as well … he could not let her be harmed_… he struggled against the ropes but they were tied too tightly, it was no use. 

'_crucio_!'

The curse hit him again, blinding all his senses except the overwhelming pain. It seemed to go on forever until finally it stopped.

'Ah your lovely friend is here.'

He forced himself to look up again, and saw a shivering Cho on the ground, leaning against the wall with her hands clasped across her chest.

'Would you like to tell me the prophecy now? Or shall I show your friend the true meaning of pain?'

It was no use anymore. He was going to divulge it eventually, and then he was going to die. He couldn't let anyone harm Cho, he just couldn't. Voldemort was right, he was weak. 

'If you let her go, I'll tell you everything' he said, his voice shaking.

Bella laughed insanely, and Voldemort smiled at him. 

'Let her go? I suppose she is of no threat to me, therefore I don't care if she lives or dies. Very well, tell me the prophecy and I'll let her live.'

Harry felt like he was going to be sick, and he could no longer look Voldemort in the eyes. He was beaten, death was now an inevitability, and all he wanted now was for Cho to be saved. He felt a lump in his throat as he spoke, his voice sounding cracked and dry.  

'This is the part you didn't know about, the end of the prophecy. 

_The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives …_

The prophecy had been carved in his memory, and he recited it while looking at the ground. When he was done he looked up, and stared at them. Bellatrix looked bewildered while Voldemort was in deep thought. 

'Master … is he telling the truth?'

'Yes Bella, he is not lying, and now I begin to understand.' 

He looked up at Harry and smiled; an evil smile of triumph and understanding.

'So … that is why I couldn't kill you before. You have some type of power which allows you to escape me. And once I destroy you, I will be unopposed even by that muggle-loving old fool.' 

He laughed coldly now, relishing in his victory.

'And that is why Dumbledore didn't seek to kill me, he knew he couldn't. Only you could, and that is why he wanted to protect you above all else.'

'You have what you want, let Cho go and finish me' He said bitterly.

'No, I don't think I will.'

'You … you promised … we had a deal.'

'And you are a fool to have trusted me. I suffered for _thirteen years, thirteen years dwelling only as a spirit because of you and your foolish mother. You are going to suffer as I did Harry, you will watch her suffer and die, and then you will die too, in the most painful way possible.'_

Voldemort pointed his wand and Cho and then uttered '_crucio!'_

'NOoooooo' he screamed, trying to break his bonds. Cho was writhing on the floor and screaming in pain. _He … had … to … do … something. _

He felt emotion beyond anything he had ever felt before. Anger, bitterness, hatred, fear, guilt … they were overwhelming him. But beyond all he felt desperation. Desperation to help her. He looked up at the ceiling where the rope was tied around his hands, wanting to break the ropes with all his fury.

It was burning. He was so angry that the ropes were now burning, and he felt the fire searing his flesh. But it didn't matter, the pain didn't matter anymore, and he fueled the fire with more of his anger. 

'Master ….'

The rope broke, and he landed on the ground. Voldemort was still pointing his wand at the writhing body of Cho.

'Master!' Bella shrieked as she pulled out her wand, 'he is free!'

He looked at the table where his wand lay and held out his hand with all his concentration. It flew off the table into his hand and he pointed it at Voldemort.

'Do nothing' he shrieked, his eyes wide with astonishment.

'I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done.' Harry said, his voice shaking with anger. 

Voldemort's eyes narrowed now, and he no longer looked careless or cocky. 

'So the next piece of the prophecy passes…. Yes, and now there is only one piece left. We fight, but you are still just a boy. Your newfound power is no match for the heir of Slytherin.'

But Harry wasn't listening anymore, he wanted to cause pain. He wanted to make them pay for what they had done. All the emotions bubbled in his mind, and he yelled _incendio._

His whole arm was shaking as a stream of fire shot out of his wand. The force of the spell was such that it shook the whole room and the walls showed cracks. Voldemort eyes opened wide in astonishment, and he conjured a clear shield in mid air that deflected the fire. 

'_Avada kedavra_! He shrieked before Harry could even cast another spell.

He remembered, as if in some other lifetime, the apparition lessons he had taken, and instantly displaced himself next to the table as the killing curse blew a gash into the wall. 

'_Stupefy_!'

The spell made him recoil as it flew at Voldemort, the wind rushing in its wake and the whole room being shaken again. Voldemort disappeared and reappeared a few meters left and then brandished his wand in a swirling motion, conjuring a snake, after which he sent another killing curse at Harry. He threw himself out of the way and yelled at the snake in parseltongue. _No, stop! Attack the witch, do it now!_

The snake, confused, hesitated a moment and then turned around and headed for a wide eyed Bella. All those long nights he had studied dueling techniques flashed through his mind, all the techniques and spells he had studied from the restricted section. Without delay he pointed his wand at the necklace on the table and transfigured it into a stag. A beautiful white stag, surrounded by a golden glow, charged at Voldemort. The blood in the necklace had given the conjured animal some of his own power, and it charged, unafraid of anything, at Voldemort. Bella meanwhile had destroyed the snake and shrieked for instructions from her master, who sent a killing curse at the stag. The stag vanished into fog and a broken necklace clattered to the ground, having lost all its power. Harry waved his wand again and sent another stunner at Voldemort, but he had recovered too quickly and simultaneously replied with another killing curse. 

They both realized what they had done a moment too late, and their spells collided, binding their wands together. The beam that connected and vibrated their wands was no longer red or green, but thin and golden. 

'Kill him' Voldemort shrieked, 'kill him you fools'

Harry tried to break the bond but it was too powerful. Bella pointed her wand at him and there was nothing he could do to block it. He saw her wave and prepared to die, when she was suddenly thrown against the wall with a scream. A green beam from Wormtail had hit her and she fell to ground, no longer moving.

'You traitor!' Voldemort screamed at him. There was fear in his eyes now, fear beyond anything Harry had seen in him before. Wormtail stood shaking, his wand pointed at his master, and he looked at Harry with pleading eyes.

'I'm so sorry Harry, for everything. I know you'll never forgive me for being a coward, but I realize now what I must do. I cannot kill him but I will hold him off and buy you some time. You must grab the portkey and escape. Goodbye Harry, I know your parents would have been very proud of you.'

He then pointed his wand at Voldemort and shouted an unknown curse. The impact of the spell broke the connection between them and sent Voldemort flying into a wall. There was blood seeping from a cut on his head, but he instantly stood up and shot a spell at Wormtail, who barely managed to fling himself out of the way.

'Run Harry, Run!'

He ran over to Cho and grabbed her hand, and then summoned Lupin's body over to them. There was a triumphant sound from the other side of the room, and he saw Wormtail's body collapsing lifelessly to the ground. Without hesitation he summoned the portkey to them and the last thing he heard was Voldemort's scream of fury. 

They were back in the classroom, back at Hogwarts. _They were safe. He let go of Lupin's body and felt a sudden loss of strength. The entire ordeal had exhausted him, the spells having sapped all his energy, and he fell into unconsciousness._

* * *


	18. The Aftermath

* * *

  


Chapter 18 – The Aftermath

* * *

_'Harry … why did you let me die? Why didn't you stop him?'  
'What?' Harry said feebly 'I ... I couldn't, I didn't know ...'  
The ghost of Cedric Diggory was standing in front him, sending chills down his spine._

_'You won the tournament Harry; you should have touched the cup alone. Then I wouldn't be dead.'  
'No … I swear, I didn't ... I couldn't ...' he stammered  
Harry watched in horror as the ghost in front of him changed into someone else.  
'Why didn't you try harder at Occlumency Harry? You hardly tried at all.'  
'Sir ... Sirius?' Harry gasped   
'You should have tried harder to learn Harry, I would still be alive.'_

_'It wasn't my fault!" cried Harry, tears running down his cheek 'I ... I couldn't know ...'_

_The ghost changed again, and now it was Lupin. _

_'Noooo' he screamed, 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.'_

_He tried to run away, but an invisible force was holding him, shaking him…_

Harry wake up! _Wake up_! It's just a nightmare.

He opened his eyes and saw Ron's worried face hanging over him, his arms shaking him by the shoulders. 

'I'm awake, stop shaking me' he groaned, as he fell back against his pillow. He was in the hospital wing, Ron and Hermione standing by his bedside with worried faces.

'Are you ok Harry?'

'It was just a nightmare, I'm fine' he snapped. But he wasn't. His heart felt like it was made of lead, heavy and dead. He tried to hold back his tears as his memory recalled everything. _Cho …_

'Where's Cho? Is she ok?' he said with urgency

'She's fine Harry; she was let out of the hospital wing yesterday. She came by once or twice to see you but didn't stay.'

'How long …?'

'Four days mate, listen, we're sorry…'

'I don't want to talk about it' he said angrily, tears welling in his eyes again.

'We knew you're upset Harry –' Hermione said to him, her expression filled with sympathy. 

'_YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING_!' he shouted

Hermione had tears in her eyes now, and Ron swallowed as he looked away. 

Harry closed his eyes, and buried his face in his hands, letting the grief wash over him.

'I'm sorry, I … I just want to be alone. Please.'

'We understand. We're there for you if you need us.' Hermione said quietly, and she pulled Ron away by the arm. He didn't want to talk to them right now; he couldn't explain how he felt. 

His hands were bandaged up, from his elbows to his fingertips, and he felt a dull stinging pain underneath it. Many of his muscles still ached too, an aftereffect of the cruciatus curse. He felt tears forming in his eyes again, as the memory of the tortured Lupin burned in his mind. _Life's not worth this …_

Now they were flowing freely, his whole chest shaking with the pain in his heart. Nothing seemed to matter anymore, life was just a never-ending tragedy and oblivion now seemed like a welcome alternative. He cried until there was nothing left, until his mind had gone numb, and then he wiped his eyes and looked up. 

Dumbledore was sitting next to him, silently; he looked sadder and more tired than ever. 

'I don't want to talk to you either' He said, his voice a mixture of grief and anger. 

'I understand' Dumbledore said quietly, 'I will talk to you instead.'

He paused for a moment, as if he was thinking of where to start, and then took a deep breath before continuing.

'Your friends Ginny Weasley and Dean Thomas are completely fine. They were simply stunned and found by Filch shortly after I left.'

'The … professor …' he mumbled, and a sense of foreboding told him what was coming.'

'Nikolai was not so lucky; the impostor pretending to be Lupin used the killing curse on him. His body was found next to that of your friends.'

A wave of nausea washed over him. _One more death on his conscience._

'I stunned him … it was my fault … I helped the death eater attack him …'

'Miss Chang told me what happened; it wasn't your fault Harry - or hers for that matter. I myself have been fooled by the polyjuice potion before, as you will remember.'

'The order … you said the order was attacked …' his trembling voice whispered.

Dumbledore's eyes looked downward, and he nodded, as he spoke. 

'Remus Lupin, Elphias Doge, Dedalus Diggle, and Emmeline Vance were sent on a mission based on a lead we had. That information turned out to be false, and they were led into a trap. They were all killed, with the exception of Lupin who was captured alive for a specific purpose, as you know. It turns out that Voldemort himself was waiting for them, with half a dozen death eaters. They didn't stand a chance.'

There was bitterness in his voice now, resentment as he spoke the dark lord's name. 

_Another three people killed to get to me … more deaths on my conscience…_

'Sir … he said there was a young death eater at the school, one of the students …'

'But he didn't say who?'

'No …'

'It is no great surprise, I'm sure we can both guess who has the motivation, the abilities, and the background to become a death eater. I think that your recent quidditch actions would only have spurred him on to seek revenge against you. But without proof, I cannot act.'

Harry nodded. Malfoy seemed like the logical suspect; no surprise there. 

'Harry I would like to know exactly what happened. I have so far only received second hand information and Miss Chang's viewpoint, from which I can just draw educated guesses. I know you don't want to talk about it, but I have to know. 

Harry began to tell the whole story. When he described Lupin his voice broke, and he had to stop for a few minutes. The headmaster buried his head in hands for a moment and looked utterly weary. For some reason he no longer felt the anger he had felt last year towards Dumbledore. Judging by his expression, Dumbledore was the one person who understood what he felt. He pulled himself together and continued on with the story, describing how he had told the prophecy to Voldemort, and how Voldemort had still tortured Cho. How he had become so mad and overcome with emotion that he had done wandless magic. How his emotions had increased the power of his spells beyond anything he had seen. Dumbledore didn't seem the least surprised, he simply nodded his understanding. When he told of how Wormtail killed Bella and attacked his master, Dumbledore lips formed into a grim smile. He remembered, as if from some other lifetime, how Dumbledore had said Peter owed him a debt. He had saved Wormtail's life a long time ago, and Wormtail had repaid the debt. Harry realized he no longer hated Wormtail; he had been a victim too, like everyone else involved in this tragedy. 

His hate was reserved for only one person now, one monster, the one responsible for everything. 

He finished the story, of how he had collapsed right after he got back to Hogwarts, and then sat silently on his bed.

'I understand Harry, and I believe I can explain everything to you. But first I would like you to sleep, rest your body and mind.'

'I want to see Cho …'

'Not yet Harry, you have to rest first. I will tell Madam Pompfrey to fetch you a dreamless sleeping potion. When you wake up tomorrow I will come back and explain, and then you can see your friends. 

He nodded, too tired to argue, and drank the potion that the school nurse brought for him, instantly pulling him back into sleep.

When he awoke he found Ginny sitting on the bed next to his, reading a book. 

'Harry! You're awake!' she exclaimed and gave him a hug. 

'Hi Ginny, I'm glad you're ok' He said softly.

She smiled at him; he could see the understanding in her eyes. 

'Hermione and Ron are in class. I'm supposed to have DADA right now but it's been cancelled for the remainder of the year, so I thought I'd come and sit here. I'm supposed to go and tell Dumbledore as soon as you woke up; I think he wanted to talk to you.'

Harry nodded, his lips forming a watery smile.

'Well you'd better go and get him, I think it's important.'

'Are you sure you'll be ok?'

'I'm fine' he said, but he couldn't look her in the eyes as he said it. He felt far from fine, but he didn't want to talk about it.

'Well I'll go tell him you're awake then. See you later Harry.'

He watched her leave and felt a sense of loneliness. He didn't want to be alone, and yet he didn't want to be with anyone either. He lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, his throat felt thick and his eyes heavy. His muscles still felt sore, but the skin underneath his bandages had healed somewhat; it was no longer stinging. 

'Ah Harry, I'm glad you're awake.'

The headmaster walked in and sat down on the chair next to the bed. 

'I'm sure you have lots of questions, but first of all let me inform you that you will be excused from classes for the rest of the year. I have spoken to all your teachers and they have agreed that you can catch up the work during the summer.'

Harry nodded. He wouldn't be able to study anything when he felt like this, let alone write his exams. He just wanted to go back to sleep. 

'I'm sure you have learned of the four founders of Hogwarts, since the four houses were named after them. They were also some of the greatest wizards and witches of all time, though most do not realize the full extent of their influence. Godric and Salazar disagreed on the important of blood, as you know, and eventually split ways. Salazar knew he could not challenge Gryffindor, especially with Rowena and Helga on his side, so he decided to leave his plans behind for the future generation. He knew that one day his heir would follow in his footsteps, the heir of Slytherin, and he would finish the work that Salazar himself started.'

'Voldemort …' Harry nodded. He already knew all this.

'Exactly. What you may not know is that Godric knew what he had done too. You see, Godric Gryffindor was a great protector of the world; he fought for the betterment of both muggles and magical folk alike. However he knew that long after he had passed on, he would need others to follow in his footsteps. He ensured that the world would always have a protector, a person who would champion for those who opposed evil. You might call these people the heirs of Gryffindor.'

'You're the heir of Gryffindor?'

'Well yes and no, I'm not related if that is what you are asking. However, I am part of the legacy that Gryffindor left behind. Unlike Slytherin, Gryffindor never cared about blood you see, his heirs would not necessarily be his direct descendants, but simply a person who met certain criteria. They could be purebloods, halfbloods, or muggleborns. Each generation would have one such champion, a champion that would arise if there was a need. In my day there was an evil wizard named Grindelwald, he was taking over the world using dark magic, and it seemed no one could stop him. I was chosen by fate to fight him, and I rose up to the challenge. There was so much death in those years, so much destruction in both the wizard and the muggle world. '

'But then why can't you defeat Voldemort?'

'I'm old Harry; my time will be up soon. It is time for the next heir to step forward and prove himself.'

The words hit him like a bullet, leaving him speechless as his mind worked out what was just said.

'But … you can't mean me …'

'I would think your experience dueling Voldemort confirms it Harry. I was always sure of course, due to the prophecy, but now my suspicions have been proven. You are the one.'

'But … you can't die, I'm not ready yet!'

'I don't know what my fate is, but I have to pass the torch to you. I don't think it will be long now, perhaps a few more years. Especially now that Voldemort knows I cannot defeat him, he will surely attack me. But before that happens, I will try to teach you everything I can' He smiled.

'But I can't do it alone … I fought him, he was too good…'

'I admit it is much earlier than I would have liked, but you have uncovered your power now, you can tap into it at will. With practice, you will eventually learn to control it better as I did so long ago.'

'I don't want you to die… ' he gasped, the reality of what Dumbledore was saying starting to kick in. 

'I've had a long and rewarding life Harry, I'm not afraid to die. Death is just another adventure, and when my time comes I will accept it.'

Harry felt tears in his eyes again. 

'It is not important how we die, what's important is how we have lived.'

'But why me?'

'You are pure of heart, noble, magically powerful, and you have experienced great loss.'

'Did you …?'

'Yes, though not as much as you. I uncovered my power slowly over many years. It was not until I was almost a hundred that I had fully developed my potential.'

'So the fate of the world rests on my shoulders' he said bitterly.

'Well not entirely. I would like to point something else out. Do you remember what the qualities of the other two houses are?'

'Ravenclaws are smart and creative, and Hufflepuffs are loyal and hard working.'

'Exactly. Godric knew that strength rested in friendship. I can't help but notice that your two best friends posses the same qualities as Godric's friends did. You are not alone Harry, as long as you have your friends with you.'

Harry stared at Dumbledore and saw that he looked incredibly proud, his eyes watery, and his expression radiating love. 

'Now if you'll excuse me, I must attend to some business. Feel free to drop by anytime Harry, and let me know when you feel like resuming your lessons. Rest well.'

Harry lay in bed all day trying to come to terms with what Dumbledore had told him. Even though he was supposed to be resting, he couldn't possibly sleep anymore after being hit with news like that. He didn't want to shoulder the world, but he somehow knew it was true. His fears were confirmed when he realized he could now do basic wandless magic with ease. It still hurt to move slightly, and he had wanted another pillow to hold up his back. When he reached out his hand and focused some of his emotions into it, as Dumbledore had taught him, the pillow flew into his hand. 

It was surreal, scary, and yet it didn't surprise him anymore. The sorting hat had told him he had great potential, Dumbledore had known too, and somehow in the back of his mind he had always known since he was a child that there was something special about him. The prophecy had only confirmed it when it said he had "power he knows not". 

He wanted someone to talk to, someone who could understand. Sirius … Lupin … they had given their lives for him. Dumbledore would understand, but he couldn't talk to him right now. It felt as if he was the reason Dumbledore would die, he was the next in line … his mind was going crazy, he wanted to break down and cry but somehow he felt as if there were no tears left inside him. He wanted to see Cho … she had been here when he was unconscious but he hadn't seen her in the day he had been awake. Was she mad at him for what happened? She was the only person he wanted to talk to right now, the only person who wouldn't offer him sympathy or pity. 

He stared out of the window; the quidditch field visible from here, and he saw some first years were getting their flying lessons. It brought back memories; life had been so simple back then. 

'You're awake are you? Let's check the bandages on your hands then.'

Madam Pompfrey had walked in and went right over to him, examining his arms. She took of the bandages and applied some more ointment before putting fresh ones on.

'I don't even want to know how you did this! These burns were right into your flesh.'

'Yeah' he said dismally, 'you don't want to know.'

She looked up at him in surprise, and saw the look on his face.

'Well you should be well enough to walk around by tomorrow Mr. Potter, I might even consider letting you out of the hospital wing.'

She was trying to be nice, lift his spirits, but somehow it wasn't helping. 

'Could I have another dreamless sleep potion then? I'd like to get some rest before tomorrow then.'

'Very well, I'll go fetch one.'

He just wanted to sleep, forget about everything. As the liquid hit his throat he felt strangely thankful that he could sink back into oblivion. 

On the afternoon of the next day he was allowed to leave the medical ward. Although he still had to wear the bandages and get them changed twice a day, the rest of his body had healed fully, and he could walk around the castle by himself. He waited until dinnertime to go back to the Gryffindor tower, hoping to avoid everyone. The common room was empty, which he was very thankful for, and he quickly made his way to his dormitory. 

 'Harry! You're out!'

Neville was sitting on his bed, reading his herbology book when he walked in.

'Hi Neville.'

'Want to play a game or something Harry? Or practice some spells? I really missed the DA meeting this week, but we're on for next week right?'

'I don't know Neville' he said wearily 'I think we might stop for this year; I don't really have the energy anymore. I just came up here to get something from my room and then I have to leave, sorry.'

'Oh … alright' Neville said, looking incredibly disappointed.

'Did anyone tell you what happened Neville?'

'Well everyone knows you were kidnapped, and that you fought your way out. They also said the kidnapper killed professor Vladislav, but that's all they said. Lots of rumors of course, but nobody really believes them.'

'I faced Lord Voldemort, and Bellatrix Lestrange was there too.'

Neville's face went pale, and his expression changed from eager to bitter. 

'I hate her Harry; I hate her more than Voldemort himself. She scares me, all my life I've had this shadow hanging over me, knowing that the people who tortured my parents are alive and now free.'

Neville was shaking now, he had never talked to anyone before and Harry could see it was affecting him deeply.

'Neville, she's dead' he said with a comforting smile. 'She was hit with the killing curse by a weak untalented wizard called Peter Pettigrew. She'll never torture anyone again now.'

He turned around and pulled the marauders map out of this trunk, and then headed back out. 

'Harry …' Neville's voice called out to him. He turned around and saw Neville standing up, a look of determination on him.

'I still want to help Harry, I still want to learn DA stuff and fight alongside you.'

'Thanks Neville, I'm glad to have you with me. I just need some space right now.'

He walked back down to the common room and opened the map when he saw no one was there. 

'_I solemnly swear I am up to no good'_

A quick survey of the Ravenclaw tower for Cho's name revealed that she wasn't there. He searched the rest of the grounds and saw her name by the lake, sitting by herself.

'_Mischief managed'_

As he ran down to the lake he folded up the map again, hiding it in his robes. She had her back to him as he approached, but as he came closer she heard his footsteps and turned around. There were tears flowing down her cheek, and her eyes were all puffed up; it was apparent that she had been crying a while.

'Cho … are you …'

She ran up to him and gave him a hug, but quickly pulled away after a moment; a look of guilt on her face.

'Look … I'm sorry … I … feel terrible about what happened …'

'Oh … it's not your fault Harry … I just feel so guilty inside … the professor is dead …'

'It wasn't your fault!'

'I stunned him! If I hadn't done that, none of this would have happened. Oh-'

She put her face in her arms again and began sobbing. He understood; he knew what it was like to cause the death of someone, even indirectly. He slowly put his arms around her and held her, letting her cry it out. 

Finally she pulled herself together and wiped her eyes. 

'I'm sorry; I just need some time to deal with this. You understand don't you?'

'Yeah' he nodded. He understood, though it pained him. 

'I … think maybe it's best if we … have our space. Besides, I need to study for my NEWTS … I'm really far behind.'

'Do you still love me?'

'Of course I do!' she sobbed, 'but … I …'

'- Then I'll give you some space, and I'll be waiting for you. After your exams are over maybe we can see each other. I love you too, and if space is what you need then I'll give it to you.'

He hugged her tightly again, and she cried in his arms. 

'Thank you Harry … I'll see you on the last day of school then' she whispered, and then walked back to the castle.

He wasn't going to class anymore for the last two weeks of school. What was the point? He couldn't find the energy to concentrate on anything, especially exam preparation, and he knew that he could pass all his exams quite easily if he hadn't been preoccupied. 

He would spend most of the day wandering around the castle, or walking by the lake. Sometimes he would go and see Hagrid, listen to him talk about Grawp or Olympe. Anything to take his mind off the pain he felt. Sometimes he would take his broom early in the morning and go flying, as that was the only thing that could lift his spirits. Other times he would practice his wandless magic, making objects levitate around when no one was looking. He found he was most effective when he was feeling particularly emotional about something, and he quickly learned to control it as he did when casting the patronus. One time he had been so frustrated and angry about something that he had set a small log he was levitating on fire, and he had quickly pulled out his wand to put the fire out. The ease with which he could now do wandless magic was unsettling, it was almost second nature. He spent time with Ron and Hermione too, who were always careful not to upset him. Neville also seemed to understand, and he tried to interest Harry in games of chess or exploding snap with him, even though he wasn't much good at them. 

And so the last two weeks of the term passed, and he woke up early on the last day of school, the day they would take the Hogwarts express back. His things were already packed and he slowly got dressed when an owl arrived.

_Harry,_

_Can you meet me by the lake in half an hour? _

_Cho_

He went early but saw that she was already sitting there, a letter in her hands. It was the letter that he had written her, and she was crying as she held it.

'Cho?'

He sat down next to her, and tried to put his arm around her, but she shook her head and gently turned it away.

'Harry … I … I can't do it anymore …'

It hit him like a ton of bricks. Somehow it didn't feel real, this couldn't be happening.

'Are … are you breaking up with me?'

A new set of tears ran down her cheeks, and she couldn't look him in the eyes anymore.

'Don't you love me anymore?' he said with a lump in his throat.

'I do! It's just … I'm sorry, I can't … it's too hard.'

'We can work through it, we have each other…'

'I can't. I'm sorry …' she sobbed, 'I'm not brave like you; I can't live my life with all the guilt and fear.'

He felt like his heart broke, pierced by icy shards. The memory of Marietta accusing him flashed before his eyes. …_you will only end up hurting her…_

They sat in an eerie silence, both of them waiting for the other to say something. He could not bring himself to look at her anymore, and stared out at the lake; thinking of all the things she had said to him. He thought back to the beginning of the year, when he had sat in the hospital wing with her. _Don't you think it's my choice if I want to risk my life?' _she had told him. He had been foolish enough to believe her; in denial, thinking he could somehow live a normal life like everyone else. 

'I … understand if you hate me …' she sobbed.

A line of the prophecy rung through his mind … 

_neither__ can live while the other survives … _

He sat in silence, the anger building up in him again, but he said nothing. 

'I'm sorry Harry' and she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug. But he felt only anger. He stood stiffly and kept his arms by his side instead of returning her embrace. She pulled away and stared at him, fresh tears still rolling down her face. Then her expression changed from sadness to guilt again, and she looked down at the ground, unable to meet his gaze. 

'I hope you'll forgive me someday' she said, and walked away, out of his life. 

He sat on the train home staring out the window. Neville and Ginny had come by and asked to join him, but he had told them he'd rather be alone. He felt so empty inside, except for the occasional burst of bitterness. Had he been wrong to make her the necklace? Would she still have been so brave earlier in the year without it? When she had grasped his hand at the order of the phoenix meeting and spoken so fiercely, had it been an illusion? The necklace … he remembered her patronus, a swan. An animal of great beauty and grace, white in color to represent its purity and innocence … but underneath those white feathers its skin was pitch black. He felt anger again, washing over him. How could he have been so blind …

He turned his head as the door to the compartment opened, and Ron and Hermione walked in. 

'I'd rather be alone' he said.

'We're not asking mate, we're here whether you want us or not.'

'I heard about you and Cho Harry, you must feel awful.'

'DON'T SAY IT' he yelled at her. 

She paused for a moment, but then continued.

'And Dumbledore told us what happened, and the rest of the prophecy.'

'SO WHY DON'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE'

'BECAUSE WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS, AND WE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU'

Her angry words startled him, and he looked back at her in surprise. But there was no anger on her face, just determination.

'That's right mate, you can treat us as badly as you like but we're gonna stick with you until the end.' Ron said.

'Don't … I've lost enough people I care about, I have to do this alone.'

'You can't live like that Harry, everyone needs friends.'

'YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE - WHO HAVE YOU LOST? I LOST MY PARENTS, SIRIUS, -'

But he couldn't finish the sentence. He buried his face in his hands in frustration, his whole body trembling.

He felt Hermione hug him, and Ron's hand clasp his shoulder, but he pushed them away. 

There was silence, until eventually Ron's voice broke it.

'You'll defeat v-Voldemort Harry, we know you will, and then you can live your life normally again.'

'OH RIGHT, it's that simple is it? Well then I'll just go kill him tonight, pick up a cake on the way back, and then we can all celebrate. Shall we say 8pm? No better make it 9, just in case he decides to put up a fight.'

Ron looked for a moment as if he might smile, but he simply nodded.

'It won't be easy, but we'll help you as much as we can. Hermione and I have decided to stop seeing each other too, go back to being friends the way we used to be.' 

'Not because we don't care for each other anymore, but because it's the least we can do for you.' Hermione said, a note of regret in her voice. 'With all you've sacrificed, you're going to need friends, not a pair of lovers, to stand by your side.'

This made him look up, and he stared at their faces, filled with concern. 

He was wrong; some things were stronger than even death. Friendship. 

'Thank you' he whispered, and gave her a hug while shaking Ron's hand. 

The rest of the journey was uneventful. Even Malfoy hadn't come to give them the usual end of year insults. He imagined that he had learned of Harry's new abilities and was now more reluctant to confront him. Of course, he had never had much luck in the past either. 

Ron and Hermione talked about the news. Apparently Fudge was under a lot of pressure to resign, and they were saying it probably wouldn't be long now. Ron's dad was most likely to get the nod for the job, as people had been quite pleased with him so far. It all seemed unimportant right now to him, and he only listened with one ear as he stared out of the window. Somehow the burden he carried, though lessened by his friends, was heavier than ever. He was no longer a boy, he faced more responsibility than any adult, and it was time for him to grow up. 

In another time, another place, things might have worked out between Cho and him. They had been happy together, but Voldemort had torn them apart, as he had destroyed everything else in Harry's life. 

There was no more room for petty things. No more wasting time on foolish pursuits or quidditch, it was time to face the challenge. It was going to be a long summer. But like a phoenix, he would rise up from the ashes and bring hope to the world. 

* * *

  


The End

* * *


End file.
